Pichel upright (birdcage)

[J Patrick Draine]

On Thursday, November 22, 2001, at 05:06 PM, Graeme Harvey wrote:

>
>
>> It's in nice condition -- fantastic burled veneer etc. Apparently a 
>> very
>> late example of an over-damper system.
>
> So much stunning work on the case and an outdated action was then 
> fitted,
> because, I'm told the manufacturer was either unwilling or unable to 
> use the
> latest under damped system due to either patent restrictions or 
> exorbitant
> royalties placed on the "latest design" by those who developed it.
>

Joe Garrett suggested a date of 1865-75. The condition of the wood and 
felt makes that seem highly unlikely -- light toned wood, bright white 
felt. If this is 135 years old, my 1910 Hallet-Davis would appear to be 
at least 500 years old by comparison! Perhaps US central heating was 
much dirtier than European heating? Or maybe European technicians 
cleaned the action at every opportunity possible? Thanks for the input 
on manufacturers avoiding "modern action" royalties etc.

>>
>> It was 150-200 cents flat when I got to it; I pulled it up to 100 cents
>> flat. Still managed to break a couple of high treble strings.
>
> I've pulled lots of these to A440, after checking plank, plate structure
> etc.
> Strings are easy to replace in treble, though often I avoid starting if 
> they
> are rough to start with.
>>

I'm usually a strong advocate of A440 but I don't think I'll push it too 
hard in this case.

>> Anyone have any advice specific to working on this Pichel? I need to
>> pull the action to fix the strings, and space hammers (the hammer
>> flanges are screwed to the interior side of the action rail).
>
> Spacing is easy by pushing a blade down between flanges from the from 
> the
> front, or setting some samples and pulling the action and working from 
> the
> back.
>
>> Is this an example of an action which unscrews and slides out of the
>> piano, keybed & all? I don't often work on "cottage pianos" (though 
>> this
>> one is much better than the typical "birdcage piano") -- I couldn't
>> figure out how to remove the action!
>
> If the action doesn't budge once the centre action nut is removed
doesn't have one!
> and metal
> lock thingees at each end are released
nor these!
> then it is likely to be a tray
> action.

Ah, that's the term! I was hoping for a few clues as to where I should 
locate the screws -- thanks so much.

> These are easy to remove by lifting out a few keys to access the
> screws in the balance rail that locks the entire tray (key frame and 
> action)
> to the keybed. (Sometimes the screw position in drawn on the key stick 
> under
> which the screw is located)
> Usually there are 4 or 5 screws, one at each end and a couple through 
> the
> middle.
> Then the whole assembly, including cheek blocks slides forward and can 
> be
> lifted out.

Thanks again,

Patrick