[pianotech] Brambach to rebuild?

[Terry Farrell]

I see and understand your point completely. Yes, the name Brambach  
certainly does bring instant recognition within this industry. Okay,  
gotcha!

Terry Farrell

On Nov 12, 2010, at 11:59 AM, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

> 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
>