In terms of European Uprights add Bluther, Bechstein, August Forster, Albert Fahr, Carl Ecke and Ibach to your list. Brian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Delwin D Fandrich" <pianobuilders@olynet.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 5:33 PM Subject: Re: Old Uprights > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Charles Neuman" <piano@charlesneuman.net> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > Sent: September 07, 2001 8:05 AM > Subject: Old Uprights > > > > When we think of old uprights worth restoring, S&S and M&H quickly come to > > mind. But I've been told that there are many other brands that existed > > 75-100 years ago which may be of similar quality. Is there any resource > for > > figuring out which ones were well designed and which weren't? I'm sure > they > > all had beautiful cases, but that can be misleading. > > > > There must be some guide to old pianos... > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > There are several excellent guides to old piano. Probably the best is Jack > Wyatt, an occasional, and always welcome, contributor to pianotech. (Several > of us are encouraging Jack to put as much of his knowledge as possible into > book form but he's being stubborn about this and has not done so yet.) There > is another, Les Smith, who is also one of the best writers I've encountered > in some time. Sadly, Les no longer contributes to pianotech and, to the best > of my knowledge, has no plans to write a book. I hope I'm wrong. > > If you're looking for something already in printed form, there isn't much. > Experience and knowledge will be your best guide. That and as much education > as you can get. There are classes from time to time that analyze various > piano design features, both in verticals and in grands. I would encourage > you to take them even if you've no intention of ever designing a piano. As > you gain an understanding about how pianos work you'll also gain to ability > to evaluate the various disparate design features of the individual pianos > you encounter. Then you won't need a guide of someone else's opinions which > couldn't possibly cover all of the various pianos out there anyway. > > There are many pianos out there that are often written off by the piano > technical community because they don't have the right name that are really > quite excellent pianos. There are others which--based solely on their > name--are widely revered that are mediocre musical instruments at best. > > And yes, the casework can be misleading. Almost as misleading as the name on > the keycover. > > Del > > >
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