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<DIV>Hi, Dave and Colleagues -</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>About 30 years ago we replaced a keybed on an S&S 'D'. The
problem resulted when commercial movers were moving the piano. It was on
its side, on a skid, when it tipped over landing on its belly. The
trapwork and its guards, etc., were driven through the keybed compressing the
action to about half its normal height. Everything was in
smithereens. Interestingly, the rim was unhurt and the damper action was
apparently protected by the massiveness of the belly rail construction.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We were able to get a new keybed from S&S by special arrangement.
Can't recall the cost, but I'm sure it was plenty. The whole thing was a
formidable woodworking project to be sure. Being a 'handmade' piano,
nothing was a 'drop in' exchange; every single piece had to be hand fit.
If you've ever set up a whole new action for a piano, you know what you're in
for there. The resulting restoration yielded a piano as good as ever and
it's still in regular concert service decades later. Amazingly, after all
that trauma, when all the work was done the piano was still well in tune!
A real tribute to S&S design and construction.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'd advise waiting until things have a good chance to dry out to a
normal condition. Then carefully evaluate whether the keybed needs to be
replaced, what will be gained by that, can it be rectified short of
replacing, etc. If your judgement says to replace it, have a conversation
with the folks at S&S about getting a replacement keybed. (You may
have to convince them that you have the expertise to undertake this
project.) If you do the project, take the time or spend the money to
acquire a workbench capable of supporting the piano upside down at a
convenient height - there is too much work involved to do it crawling around on
the floor! I bought two government surplus library tables about 6' x 3',
about 28" high. That gave a working height for the upside-down keybed of
something like 45", very nice.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As I recall, the project, including whole new action, keys, keyframe,
etc., etc., cost the movers' insurance company something over $5,000 30 years
ago. (Would that be $20K today?) In your case, you may have to
replace legs and lyre also, depending on the extent and duration of the
flooding. Probably still worth it, particularly if it's covered by
insurance. In any case, it's the only opportunity I've had to do that
particular repair in 39+ years of rebuilding. Could be
a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you! </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">~ Tom McNeil
~<BR>Vermont Piano Restorations<BR>VermontPiano.com<BR><BR>346 Camp
Street<BR>Barre, VT 05641<BR>(802) 476-7072</FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at <A title="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615326657x4311227241x4298082137/aol?redir=http://www.aol.com" href="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615326657x4311227241x4298082137/aol?redir=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaol%2Ecom" target="_blank"><B>AOL.com</B></A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>