On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 8:29 AM, Noah Frere <noahfrere at gmail.com> wrote: > I told someone yesterday that the cut-off portion of an old Upright, where > they added the mirror, did not degrade the structure of the piano. I still > believe that, but I wanted to confirm it with others. She found this online, > not I don't think to argue against my point, but just as an anecdote: > > *"During World War 2, American piano manufacturers ceased production to > assist in the war effort. Rationing made it impossible to build a piano > during those years, so piano tuners and rebuilders saw a golden opportunity > to keep up with the public's demands by introducing the "mirror piano". They > simply took a large old upright, often a gutted player piano, cut a > step-shelf along the top, and secured a mirror across the exposed back so > that the piano had the appearance of being smaller or more modern. These > "re-styled" pianos became very popular during the war, and unfortunately > this trend continued for another 30 years. Hundreds of thousands of heirloom > pianos were butchered during these years, and they are still commonly > encountered. Because irreparable damage was done to the integrity of the > instrument, mirror pianos are seldom worth more than a few hundred dollars > at best." * > > Are we all in agreement that the "irreparable damage" is cosmetic only? > Very much so, in fact if you look through the decal catalogues you will find a decal for the "MirrApiano" a friend who worked for a local dealer recalls "modifing" old uprights in this fashion. There is no structural harm done to the piano just the cabinet is cut down in front, creating a shelf in front of the tuning pins. The theory is the piano looks smaller & more modern, remembering this was done in the '40's, '50's, & 60's, by the 70's it fell out of fashion. -- I think we are a product of all our experiences. Sanford I. Weill<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/sanfordiw283095.html> Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com <http://www.ifixpianos.com/> email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20111007/aa8e98e5/attachment-0004.htm>
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