Squares & Bird-Cages part 2

[Isaac OLEG SIMANOT]

Hello,

I've done my part on these old clunkers, eventually one or two will have
something to care with, but most of the time they where so much
miss-repaired by so-called piano dealers that it is not only the basic
reparation that may be done, but the correction of the precedent disasters
too (paint on
strings/tuning pins, bad glue at the wrong place, and so on.

Of course you will always find people to buy these nice pieces of furniture,
I suppose you can buy themselves for a few bucks actually, but beside the
historical question, I see no big interest in there.


In France we benefit of a lot of these English pianos, some people make big
money with them, and some children where obliged to play with it. I new a
man who was at first a butcher, then he begin a piano business with these
type of pianos (coming from England, price from $100 to $500)

I was told that the English government had made a law to do some good to the
piano factories, so they decide that all the pianos in schools and public
places may be changed with new. (May be JD can clear things on that) It was
in the 70 or a little before and that create the market originally because
of so many pianos available.
Some smart guys where driving in the country with a van and some cash in
their pocket to buy all the antics they can find. These where more or less
cleaned, gold painted (on strings too sometime) , and send to France where
others sell them. The same guys sells the grey market actually I believe.

Beside, on a good musical value bird cage , the work is not way different
from a more classical vertical. Well regulated the dampers can work if end
grain felt of good quality is used (Renner sells some).
I liked to put some in shape for people who could not afford better,
sometime the piano is OK, but it is when it comes from the family , not
these crooks.

Good luck - I prefer to work on grands or more playable pianos now.

Isaac OLEG

>From France, biggest piano makers in Europe (at the beginning of the
century)




> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]De la part
> de Joseph Garrett
> Envoyé : samedi 19 janvier 2002 00:09
> À : pianotech@ptg.org
> Objet : Squares & Bird-Cages part 2
>
>
> Other "lovely" features were wooden action frames with wood ends. Even
> though most manufacturers were using cast metal brackets with wood rails,
> the wood "brackets" were cheaper to make, I suspect. The action rails were
> also different, in that the flanges mounted differently and were usually
> made from lesser woods. The keys were made from who-knows-what and often
> have a tendancy to warp.The key fronts were usually made of bone up until
> the celluloid fronts were cheap enough to employ. Once celluloid was
> established as a cheap material, the tops were made of that. Who cares if
> celluloid is extremely flammable and is "wavy". The key beds and
> frames were
> often made of what I would classify as "scrap", fit only for the
> wood stove.
>     With all that I have said, so far, most of you are probably asking "If
> he knows all this, why does he even consider working on them?" Well, there
> is a bit of the "romantic" in me that motivates me. When I have finally
> coaxed one of these instruments into a state of being in tune, I find that
> the sound is graceful and delicate. Most of the "damper problems"
> seem to be
> in the "background" of the overall sound. Also, I have found that Historic
> Temperaments have a new meaning when applied to these instruments. Which
> leads me to believe that Historical, (Histerical), Temperaments do not
> "belong" on Modern Instruments.
>     It is true that these instruments were, (for the most part),
> made during
> the period of time when the pitch standard was A=435cps. However, I have
> found that the majority of these, in my data base, are tuned to Standard
> 440cps with no ill effects. The main reason I choose to work on these
> instruments is: It does no one any good to patently dismiss these
> instruments as "junk". The person who owns a Square Grand or Bird-Cage
> piano, looks at it as simply a "piano". If they are made to feel like an
> idiot or leper, because they happen to own "one of those things", it goes
> against the image of our industry and only puts us all in a dubious light.
> (No one likes to be told that they made a foolish, or worse, stupid
> purchase. A case in point: Several months ago, I responded to a
> lady in the
> South West who owns a Bird-Cage. She had been told that her instrument was
> junk, it probably needed to be rebuilt or sold or given away. She was told
> all of this by technicians that had not even seen her piano! I finally got
> in touch with a technician who was at least willing to go to her home and
> inspect the piano. Then he was to report back to me, the findings of the
> piano's condition. If it needed shop work, etc., then I intended
> to talk to
> the client and find out her priorities, etc.
> Just yesterday, I recieved a call from the technician. He
> reported that the
> piano looked just fine, condition-wise, and he was making another visit to
> tune it. He was very pleased in the pianos condition and was very positive
> that the client/piano could be put into a good frame of mind, (tuned). All
> this took several months, emails and phone calls. If a more positive
> attitude of the origianal technicians had been in place, this
> customer would
> not think that I and the other technician are God and the rest are a bunch
> of idiots. (Customer's words). And, the customer would have had the piano,
> in tune, for Christmas. (Which was the original intent.)
>     I submit all this to all of you, in the hopes of your
> re-assessing your
> attitude towards these instruments. Yes, they are different. Yes, they are
> difficult to work on. Yes, it takes more time to accomplish an even
> moderately favorable result. Yes, they do not sound like what you
> are "Used
> to". But, I submit that with practice and a positive attitude,
> you will gain
> stature, knowlege and a great sense of accomplishment when
> working on these
> "cranky critters".
> Best Regards,
> Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
> P.S.
> Let the Games begin!<G>
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