[pianotech] Brambach to rebuild?

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Terry, you're quite right -- the bass has some problems. Still, I've seen
worse. With vertical hitches and the right scaling, though, it won't be a
"bad" bass; it just won't be the best that can be done in a piano of this
size. 

I saw all of those problems as well...but they were over-ridden by that
wonderful shot of the name "Brambach" cast into the plate. To be sure, there
are probably other no-name pianos out there that might be better raw
material for the ultimate rebuild but none of them will have that legendary
name! It is instantly recognizable by any piano technician. And it's known
-- absolutely! Positively! -- to be nothing good. The thing is, you see,
it's not just that we couldn't possibly expect anything great because it
wasn't built by one of the old masters -- we're absolutely convinced that
nothing great ever could come out of a Brambach. Ever. Period. Dot. So if
something good does come out it must be due to something the rebuilder did.
And maybe, just maybe, he/she might be able to do it again. 

My reasoning for liking a project such as this goes along these lines: Given
a new action and appropriate hammers, a well thought out scale (Of course I
have some ideas!) and a competently designed soundboard and bridge system,
the bulk of the piano's compass--the three-fourths of the keyboard compass
where most pianists spend most of their time -- will be as good as can be
achieved in any other piano. Yes, the lowest bass will be a little less than
could be done starting with some other platform; even so, I can see
comparing the low bass with new pianos (of similar size) costing upwards of
$55K. And, quite frankly, I'd be pleased if a potential client had gone out
and shopped some of the well-known and very high-end pianos before coming to
see my low-life Brambach. I might even suggest it....

ddf

Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Design & Fabrication
620 South Tower Avenue
Centralia, Washington 98531 USA
del at fandrichpiano.com
ddfandrich at gmail.com
Phone  360.736.7563


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Terry Farrell
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 5:04 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Brambach to rebuild?

Hi Del - I looked at those pictures and one thing I noted what that the bass
section had a short backscale, the bass bridge has an apron, and the tenor
hitch pins are very close to the bass bridge. All suggesting to me that it
would be rather difficult to move the bass bridge forward much if any at
all. Seems to me that even if you cut a redesigned soundboard free at the
foot, although some improvement in tone might be had, the short backscale
would still tend to cause that nasty constrained nasal tone in the bass.
Would it not be better to find a different old no-name clunker that might
better lend itself to redesign improvements?

Looking again at the photo of the bass bridge area, I see there is an apron
of plate iron forward of the tenor hitch pins (in front of the bass bridge).
If that is full-thickness, I suppose you could move those pins forward a bit
- assuming more notes would be destined for a transition bridge. Still seems
a bit cramped in that area though, and my guess is that the apron thins. But
then again, I suppose all this is a problem common to most small grands. But
perhaps some lend themselves to improvements more that others (like this
one)?

Terry Farrell