Ran into an 1890 Hobart Cable upright with a broken plate. Open face pinblock with full plate (above and below block). The horizontal section of the plate which lies just below the pinblock and tapers down to about 1 1/4" wide where it joins the treble side of the plate is cracked at that juncture. There are large plate screws all along this horizontal section which secure to the frame underneath. The screw which is nearest the break is about 10" to the bass side. The piano is 25 cents flat but seems to be fairly well in tune with itself. Original strings. Impossible to tell how long the crack has been there--though I wonder if in tightening the plate screws, this small arm of the plate wasn't stressed due to bad fitting underneath and the plate has been cracked from the outset. Am I getting into any trouble to try and tune the piano? Since the crack exists on a horizontal section and since that section is mostly secured with plate screws, it appears that it is not having any effect on the tuning stability. David Love davidlovepianos@earthlink.net
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