All, Joe's post intrigues me as to the possibilities with this piano. Being the king of this kind of work I'll bet he could make it sing! Maybe the catapult will have to wait. I have not heard nor seen the piano yet. The technician that gave me these pictures (I have many more) is a young RPT student here who has an incredible talent but little experience, and is seeking advice. No matter what, I told him HE isn't the one to do it, unless he's taking it on as a learning experience and can take all the time necessary to consult with those who do have the knowhow. This is a young man that decided to build a harpsichord from scratch (No kits or pre-fabbed parts. All hand done) and about a year later had a fine instrument and performed with the Mormon Tab Choir... And he's a humble, quiet sort. If he's determined to do it I'm confident that he will do well. He says the tone of individual strings, or of one note when it's tuned, is quite good. Lot's of sustain, pleasant sound. And remember that while he isn't experienced he has a wonderful sense of what a "good" piano sound is. He said the piano is 100 cents low (+/-50 in compas) and that the owner says it won't stay in tune, no matter what technicians have done. You know there's always something that can be done (complete rebuild) but according to articles that I've read "string elongation" would be a big problem with this piano seeing the incredibly long upper section (non speaking) in the plain wire. Vince Mrykalo has collected many articles from past journals about this wherein people like Klaus Fenner (sp??) said that this is a big concern in tuning stability. That this length of waste wire (my words, for lack of better ones) between the tuning pin and speaking length is never a good thing. This is what struck me in these pictures. Any thoughts? Thanks. JIm Busby I
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