Introduction

[Jean-Jacques Granas]

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Hi there,

What follows was meant for all of you who so kindly answered my intro. =
By mistake, I sent it by reply mail to Clyde's private email address. =
Sorry Clyde.

jjg

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Hello,

Thanks for the red carpet welcome treatment :-)=20

I am half Polish and half French and I was born in Poland. When I was 2 =
(1963) my parents moved to North America. There (Georgia, Oregon, =
Quebec), I went to school and I learned English and French. That =
explains my English. I have been playing the piano since age 5, but I am =
a historian by trade (McGill University, comparative history, =
East-Central Europe, 16th and 17th centuries). I came back to Poland to =
complete my masters degree, and we (wife and I) just stayed. Life is =
somewhat less hectic here than in the west, and being here at this time =
is like being part of history in the making. I work as a translator =
though, as there's not much you can do with a history degree that would =
be materially rewarding ...=20

I started working on pianos in 1982 in Montreal, at a place called =
Pavillion du Piano. The place was run by Zsolt Derzsi-Pap, a school =
teacher originally from Hungary, for whom pianos were a passion. He had =
- sadly - missed his vocation in life, for he would have made a great =
tenor singer. He had unbelievable charisma and panache: Imagine =
unloading a piano from the back of a truck to the sound of Neapolitan =
arias being sung live as passersby stop to listen and gaze. That man, =
and others in the shop (it was a four-men outfit, me included) taught me =
most of what I know about pianos. The true artist to the last, Zsolt had =
to sell his business, as he cared more about the instrument than about =
making a buck (sounds familiar?). It was bought by Josef Rosch, who =
packed his bags and went to practice in Alberta. Rosch now has a =
thriving business, which began thanks to the large piano and machine =
stock he acquired from Zsolt. For a time, I continued working with Zsolt =
in his garage (he bought a home that had belonged to a restorer of old =
automobiles, and had a six car garage that Zsolt convereted into a piano =
shop). I worked on pianos and went to university at the same time. So, =
full time employment in the piano business lasted only 5 years in my =
case. Once a year during that time, we would rent a 24 foot truck and =
drive down to (Jim?) Ahern's place in Boston, our main source of pianos =
for rebuilding.  =20

I now rebuild the occasional piano, just for the pleasure of it. I don't =
have the experience of most people here, and I won't tackle anything I =
don't know how to do. I have "specialised" over time in rebuilding and =
refinishing the entire piano, save for the action. I especially like =
pinblock, soundboard, bridge, casting, and stringing work.

I am a admirer of the Boston school of piano making from before WWI: I =
once was the proud owner of a 7 foot 6 Mason and Hamlin screw stringer =
that had a sustain in the bass that just wouldn't quit. Playing that =
piano was like riding a magic carpet above the clouds. Also from Boston, =
my most memorable rebuild was a 9 foot + Chickering concert grand from =
the 1890s. What a beauty !!! It had a foot long Legion d'Honneur on the =
casting and an independent "mini" pinblock imbedded into the casting for =
each stringing section (little piece of pinblock, about a foot by 6 =
inches). Think of the fitting job. By the way, no epoxy glue or other =
slimy fillers for me, solely graphite and chalk assisted work. No need =
to go over what those pianos sounded like ... I have a picture of that =
piano refinished somewhere. Maybe I should post it here. I still have a =
6 foot New England Piano Co. Nice little instrument. Great bass for the =
size, mellow mid-range and lovely singing upper.

Well, you must be yawning by now...

Will be reading the post avidly,=20

Jean-Jacques Granas

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