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I find this kind of thing fun when I can take a beautiful piece of
previously engineered something and adapt it to something else saving big time &
cash & utilizing something that originally was very expensive to make & end
up with a nice result
A client brought in a 1900 ish Baldwin upright that ended up needing more
than it first appeared, including a board. It wasn't worth doing so the
decision was made to scrap it. The tech who brought in the job wanted the beams &
such for the maple & I'll be able to salvage the spruce in the lam. beams
also.
The real jewel though was that this piano had a laminated soundboard
liner just like Mason or Stwy grands & uprights ( not as thick as a grand ). I
managed to get it off in nearly one piece with crow bars, chisels & an
Oklahama speed wrench.
Now coincidently I'm replacing the board in a 6 ft. 1 inch Mason AA no.
28,246 which has ribs so long a cutoff bar was really a necessity.
The old Upright board liner had plenty of stock for this & by fashioning
it to fit the corner of the AA I was able to install a straight 28 inch cut
off bar that reduced the overall length of 6 ribs as much as 13.5 inches. My
longest rib was 50" & one of the longest I've ever witnessed in any piano.
This rib is now about 37.5 inches long. I don't believe its possible to use
ribs this long and expect crown support for very long. Although my observations
of the AA's is limited the 13 rib scale has shown the crown has not survived
even with tension resonator claims. Hence the few AA boards I've seen are
usually quite flat. The sound of this piano though fair was quite lack luster
in its tonal appeal if you know what I mean even though the board was not
seriously cracked up
The Mason AA has a very wide body & hence very long ribs for a 6 ft 1"
piano
The original rib scale was as follows on the left
For clarity the measurements below are the actual rib speaking length not
including the piece in the notches.
1. 30 in inches
2. 37
3. 45 --------38 modified length
4. 50 --------37.5
5. 46 -------35.5
6. 40 --------32.5
7. 34 --------29.5
8. 28 --------27
9. 28
10. 20
11.18
12. 15
13. 13
It's easy to see there is far more hopes for the longevity of rib & crown
stiffness than the previous scale. this mod also get the bridge more nearly
centered over the long ribs which is IMO a good thing.This original bridge
also has the transition bridge with all the usual funky tri-chords. It's
receiving a modified trans. bridge with bi-chord replacements.
I'll let you know how it turns out in a month or so. The action is done &
case stripped. The parts are in the finish process waiting for the belly man
to get it done so my finish guy(Roy) can have the case & plate.
Good new year to all
Dale Erwin
Erwins Pianos Restorations
4721 Parker Rd.
Modesto, Ca 95357
209-577-8397
Rebuilt Steinway , Mason &Hamlin Sales
www.Erwinspiano.com
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