Vintage Chickering

[William R. Monroe]

Thanks for the info Steve, exactly the kinds of things I'd be worried about.
Do you happen to know the # of the one you saw?

Anyone else?  If I did take this work on, It would be for me, not a client,
so unexpected extra's are not as big a deal.

Regards,
William R. Monroe



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Ganz" <steveganz at mailaka.net>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 11:34 AM
Subject: Re: Vintage Chickering


> I just looked at one (8' similar era) last week for a customer who
> wanted to rebuild it.  The soundboard was shot, filled with screws,
> flat, cracked, painted, etc.  Unfortunately the plate was mortised into
> the case on all sides.  You could just see the edge of the plate screw
> heads poking out from under the inner rim on top of the plate.  Without
> removing the entire inner rim above the plate this plate could not be
> removed.  No removal of plate, no fix of soundboard.  The pin block was
> open and would be impossible to replace without moving the plate, which
> of course cannot be done economically.  Unfortunately, the pin block
> itself was in too poor condition to plug and redrill.  By the way, the
> action parts were not replaceable.  Nothing available that fit.  Even
> the hammers were difficult because of their light weight.  Regulation
> was very difficult.  Rocker capstans and turn in damper wires, etc.  It
> sounded awful...  My advice for you is to leave it alone if it is like
> the one I saw.  Classic definition of a time and money pit.
>
>
>