[pianotech] Little Everett Grands - was: Heller bass strings

Terry Farrell mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com
Tue Nov 16 05:50:16 MST 2010


Gotta change the subject - after writing this post I looked at the  
subject and wondered what on earth does this have to do with Heller  
bass strings!

Del: what year/size is your little Everett? I also have one that has  
been sitting around waiting years for some attention. Made in 1900 and  
is about 5'4", if I recall correctly. Interesting forward string  
terminations on it (three section scale) - the treble section is your  
typical capo style, however the tenor and bass have a iron ridge in  
the plate - sorta like the typical upright bass V-bar - but then there  
is a pressure bar on the bridge side of the forward termination V-bar.  
Sorry for the hazy photo below, but the piano is stored in amongst  
several others and this shot is in the dark using telephoto from the  
one angle you can see the area between two other pianos.....

When I have thought of re-doing (gut/redesign/remanufacture) this  
piano, I was thinking along the same lines as your thinking with the  
"Brambach". Surely, NO piano without agraffes in the bass and tenor  
could EVER sound nice! And of course, NO piano that doesn't have at  
least a four-section plate/string-scale could EVER sound good! What  
fun proving people wrong! I am also impressed with the generous  
original bass backscale on this piano: about 115 mm on A0 and 165 mm  
on the highest bass note.

Going along with this line of thinking (turning the "worst" piano in  
the world into a real piano), I realize that Brambach does in deed  
have the NAME, but surely they don't have pressure bars for forward  
terminations! Heck, this Everett is more of an upright than a grand,  
and EVERYONE KNOWS that ANY grand piano sounds better than ANY  
upright! Right?   ;-)

The low tenor has quite a hockey-stick end on it (long, slow curve),  
but the plate has a good shelf up by the pressure bar, so if, when  
adding a transition bridge, one wanted to move the forward termination  
toward the bridge for optimal strike point, I should think it quite  
possible.

Piano really has some interesting positive design features. I love the  
trapwork - three sprung wooden levers - very simple, clean and work  
like a charm. Tuning pin array is simple and cleaner than just about  
any I've seen. Nice HD butcher-block keybed. Rim bracing is heavy and  
straight forward/back - like a Bosendorfer. Just seems like it has so  
much going for it and so much potential.

If I remember correctly, it has a Wessell, Nickel & Gross action (but  
I may be mistaken). This piano was built in Boston. When did Everett  
move from Boston to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan?

Does yours share any of these features?

Terry Farrell





On Nov 16, 2010, at 12:29 AM, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

> I’m thinking about replacing the wrapped strings on the little  
> Everett grand I’ve been playing around with. The tensions are very  
> low and I’m curious if wrapping on Paulello wire with a lower  
> breaking strength will make any audible difference. I want to take  
> some more measurements of the existing strings first, though.
>
> 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
>
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