<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV><DIV>I have to echo Jim's thoughts on the Quarter Grand. (At least from the perspective of just one in my private clientele.) Yes, they can be a beast if not rebuilt or reconditioned but if you do some good work on this piano it will most likely yield good results. The Quarter Grand owned by my customer is a case in point. I contracted to a shop in NYC for a new board, block, etc. and I did the the action. It is a sweet sounding piano and works well.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Don</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Don McKechnie</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Piano Technician</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Ithaca College</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><A href="mailto:dmckech@ithaca.edu">dmckech@ithaca.edu</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV style=""><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">607-274-3908</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 44px; text-indent: -44px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 17px; "></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 44px; text-indent: -44px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>From: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica">James Ellis <<A href="mailto:claviers@nxs.net">claviers@nxs.net</A>></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; text-indent: -40px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>Date: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica">March 18, 2006 8:33:12 PM EST</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 27px; text-indent: -27px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>To: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica"><A href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 61px; text-indent: -61px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>Subject: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica"><B>[CAUT] Old Chickerings</B></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 71px; text-indent: -71px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" color="#000000" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>Reply-To: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Helvetica">College and University Technicians <<A href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A>></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Let's not be quite so quick to bad-mouth those old Chickerings, the latest</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">of which was a Quarter Grand.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>Yes, the Quarter Grand was a fancy parlor</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">grand, and a departure from the big heavy models of the 1900-1910 period. <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">As for the dampers that screwed on and damper wires that were threaded on</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">both ends - those were standard with Chickering for years.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>Did anyone</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">notice that those wires are straight, with no "dog-legs" to make the</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">dampers line up? Those wippens and shanks at diverging angles, and those</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">repetition lever springs that loop into silk cords on each end are a pain</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">to regulate, but once you get them regulated, they provide repetition</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">that's second to none.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>There are other features that may seem strange to</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">many of you, but if you will look more closely, you may see some logic to</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">what Chickering did from time to time - those pinblocks that were</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">integrated with the plate instead of the case, for example.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">I own three 100-year-old Chickerings right now - a scale 116, a scale 119,</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">and a scale 131 concert grand.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN>Those wooden action brackets have not</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">swelled or shrunk one bit that I can tell, and the actions stay regulated.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">They slide amoothly on the keybeds when the una corda is used, and do not</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">knock, despite the fact that there are no glides in the key frames.</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Jim Ellis</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">caut list info: <A href="https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives">https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives</A></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>