---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment --Apple-Mail-121-9955552 And a welcome too from Amsterdam, Jean-Jacques Granas. friendly greetings from Andr=E9 Oorebeek --Apple-Mail-121-9955552 A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 179 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/be/cc/12/0e/attachment.bin --Apple-Mail-121-9955552-- ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: foto krtje 2_2.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 26468 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/46/0a/76/ca/fotokrtje2_2.jpg ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment --Apple-Mail-122-9955554 Amsterdam - The Netherlands 0031-20-6237357 0645-492389 www.concertpianoservice.nl On 30-dec-03, at 14:29, Jean-Jacques Granas wrote: > Hi there, > =A0 > What follows was meant for all of you who so kindly answered my intro.=20= > By mistake, I sent it by reply mail to Clyde's private email address.=20= > Sorry Clyde. > =A0 > jjg > =A0 > --------------------- > =A0 > Hello, > =A0 > Thanks for the red carpet welcome treatment :-) > =A0 > I am half Polish and half French and=A0I was born in Poland. When I = was=20 > 2 (1963) my parents moved to North America. There (Georgia, Oregon,=20 > Quebec), I went to school and I learned English and French. That=20 > explains my English. I have been playing the piano since age 5, but I=20= > am a historian by trade (McGill University, comparative history,=20 > East-Central Europe, 16th and 17th centuries). I came back to Poland=20= > to complete my masters degree, and we (wife and I) just stayed. Life=20= > is somewhat less hectic here than in the west, and being here at this=20= > time is like being part of history in the making.=A0I work as a=20 > translator though, as there's not much you can do with a history=20 > degree that would be materially rewarding ... > =A0 > I started working on pianos in 1982 in Montreal, at a place called=20 > Pavillion du Piano. The place was run by Zsolt Derzsi-Pap, a school=20 > teacher originally from Hungary, for whom pianos were a passion. He=20 > had - sadly - missed his vocation in life, for he would have made a=20 > great tenor singer. He had unbelievable charisma and panache: Imagine=20= > unloading a piano from the back of a truck to the sound of Neapolitan=20= > arias being sung live as passersby stop to listen and gaze. That man,=20= > and others in the shop (it was a four-men outfit, me included) taught=20= > me most of what I know about pianos. The true artist to the last,=20 > Zsolt had to sell his business, as he cared more about the instrument=20= > than about making a buck (sounds familiar?). It was bought by Josef=20 > Rosch, who packed his bags and went to practice in Alberta.=A0Rosch = now=20 > has a thriving business, which began thanks to the large piano and=20 > machine stock he acquired from Zsolt.=A0For a time, I continued = working=20 > with Zsolt in=A0his garage (he bought=A0a home that had belonged to a=20= > restorer of old automobiles, and had a six car garage that Zsolt=20 > convereted into a piano shop). I worked on pianos and went to=20 > university at the same time. So, full time employment in the piano=20 > business lasted only 5 years in my case. Once a year during that time,=20= > we would=A0rent a 24 foot truck and drive down to (Jim?) Ahern's place=20= > in Boston, our main source of pianos for rebuilding.=A0=A0=A0 > =A0 > I now rebuild the occasional piano, just for the pleasure of it. I=20 > don't have the experience of most people here, and I won't tackle=20 > anything I don't know how to do. I have "specialised" over time in=20 > rebuilding and refinishing the entire piano, save for the action. I=20 > especially like pinblock, soundboard, bridge, casting, and stringing=20= > work. > =A0 > I am a admirer of the Boston school of piano making from before WWI: I=20= > once was the proud owner of a 7 foot 6 Mason and Hamlin screw stringer=20= > that had a sustain in the bass that just wouldn't quit. Playing that=20= > piano was like riding a magic carpet above the clouds. Also from=20 > Boston, my most memorable rebuild was a 9 foot + Chickering concert=20 > grand from the 1890s. What a beauty !!! It had a foot long Legion=20 > d'Honneur on the casting and an=A0independent "mini" pinblockimbedded=20= > into the casting for each stringing section (little piece of pinblock,=20= > about a foot by 6 inches). Think of the fitting job. By the way, no=20 > epoxy glue or other slimy fillers for me, solely graphite and chalk=20 > assisted work. No need to go over what those pianos sounded like ... I=20= > have a picture of that piano refinished somewhere. Maybe I should post=20= > it here. I still have a 6 foot New England Piano Co. Nice little=20 > instrument. Great bass for the size, mellow mid-range and lovely=20 > singing upper. > =A0 > Well, you must be yawning by now... > =A0 > Will be reading the post avidly, > =A0 > Jean-Jacques Granas > =A0 --Apple-Mail-122-9955554 A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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