2 meter piano

[Geoff Sykes]

Wow! I'm very much amazed at the participation in this list server of
tuner/techs from outside the US. Greetings all!

Why stop at 233 cm? 

Last year the Los Angeles Chapter of PTG was privileged to visit the
workshop of David Rubenstein. He had just completed construction of what is
currently the worlds largest piano, (3710 cm, or 12'2"). Construction was
more or less complete, as was the first pass at regulation, and it was in
reasonably good tune at the time of our visit. It had yet to be voiced but
it still sounded amazingly good. I believe the project is now complete and
that it was finished in traditional black, but I'm not positive. 

Follow the link below to see photos and specs. The photos are a little over
a year old and show mostly the construction phase. (Note: That's David in
these pics, and he is over 6' tall.)
http://www.la-ptg.org/rubenstein/


FWIW: A web search will tell you that the worlds largest piano is an 11'8"
Challen made in 1935. Only one exists, and as of 2002 it was rumored to be
"...residing in a French Chateaux". However, with the exception of this
photo, apparently nobody claims to have actually seen it since it was built.

See the worlds second largest piano at:
http://www.pianoworld.com/fun/bigpiano.htm



-- Geoff Sykes
Assoc. LA PTG



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ric Brekne
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 9:44 AM
To: pianotech
Subject: 2 meter piano


Hi there Stephane

Now this is an interesting response to an off the wall question. :)  Why 
13 layers of shellac... and would that be on the soundboard or the 
case... or both ?  And why exactly 233 for the longest string ?

More depth is definantly called for here !! :)

Cheers
RicB


/Hello Ric.

Unfortunately I have no answer to your question.

But my ideal piano would have :

233 cm speaking length of largest string
144 cm width of the keyboard
89 notes (with one impossible to play)
55 of those with dempers (starting at the low end)
34 of those without dempers
21 bass notes with wound strings
13 layers of shellac
8 ribs
5 potential buyers
3 legs
2 pedals
1 pianist in front
and maybe 1 audience attending (but not necessarily)

I also wonder why you don't find such ones around the corner.

Best regards.

Stéphane Collin./


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