unusual upright

[James Grebe]

Hi Scott,
Many years ago I worked on a Bauer , same type construction in a grand here 
in St. Louis.
Jim
James Grebe
Piano-Forte Tuning & Repair
Creator of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups, piano benches, writing instruments
(314) 608-4137
WWW.JamesGrebe.com
1526 Raspberry Lane
Arnold, MO 63010
BECOME WHAT YOU BELIEVE!
pianoman@accessus.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Helms" <tuner@helmsmusic.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 3:48 PM
Subject: unusual upright


> Hey everybody!
>
> I have a customer who owns a J. Bauer upright (1923) which is like nothing
> I've seen before, although some of the RPT's in my chapter have seen them.
> The plate struts are probably 3 or 4 inches deep, there are ribs on both
> sides of the soundboard, and the bass bridge is mounted on 11 dowels that
> stick out from the bridge apron - the bridge face is probably 5 or 6
> inches from the soundboard! I'm sure the thing weighs a ton and a half,
> considering all the extra cast iron in the plate. This brings some
> questions to mind:
>
> 1. Was this an experimental design? Given the expense in manufacturing
> (extra plate iron, the extra-deep cabinet, bass bridge construction, etc),
> the manufacturer must have been convinced that this was a superior design.
>
> 2. All of the classes I've attended that deal with bridge construction
> emphasize the importance of maximum contact between bridge and soundboard,
> and yet this design relies on transmitting the bridge vibrations through
> 11 dowels - that doesn't add up to a whole lot of surface area. Why would
> this have been considered to be a superior (or even viable) design?
>
> 3. Now for the nitty gritty - the bass bridge is cracked (not badly split
> out, but loose pins)along the top pins and really should be glue-repaired.
> It would definitely not be worth the expense to build a new bridge. I have
> always tilted pianos to perform this repair, but do I need to be concerned
> that my tilter may not handle the extra weight of this particular piano?
> If so, does anybody have any suggestions for a safer way to repair the
> bridge (short of making a new one)?
>
> 4. I took pictures of the piano, bridge, etc. because it was interesting
> to me - is this piano enough of an oddity that it might be worth
> submitting to the Journal?
>
> I'll be interested to hear your 2 cents worth on this one!
>
> -Scott
> -- 
> Scott A. Helms, RPT
> Helms Music Enterprises
> (269) 381-4521
> www.helmsmusic.net
>
>
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