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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mark,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I had a very strange experience when I =
followed the
link to the Luxury Piano website. (By the way, anyone following =
the link
below should make sure to turn the 'a' and the 'i' in "pianos" around, =
or you
won't be going anywhere). If you follow the link to the section =
the title
"references", the very first piano you will see there is an instrument =
that
lives 20 minutes from the university here. Lo and behold, =
technician
referred to is yours truly, and it is indeed a beautiful restoration =
from a
cosmetic point of view. The finish on the case, plate, soundboard, =
etc. is
sensational, and workmanship of assembly (stringing, etc.) looks first
rate. The testimonial there was obviously written after it =
had only
recently arrived and I had just seen it, but there is more to =
the
story. As time went by, the customer began complaining about =
"heaviness"
in the action, and indeed, the new Renner action has a distinctly *not* =
Viennese
touch, being unpleasantly ponderous feeling. I've not weighed it, =
but it
definitely has a problem. There are also some problems with action fit =
relative
to blow distance-- the hammer line height at rest requires some =
interesting
gymnastics to get the action inserted in the cavity, likely due to the =
low
pinblock underside. After about a year the customer =
complained about
"buzzing" sounds in the first treble section, and indeed, there was an =
area of
about 3-4 notes that had developed a telltale soundboard rattle along =
with a
noticeable drop clarity and decay length. Inspection =
underneath
revealed rather poorly repaired rib problems, and several places where a =
business card would be partially inserted between rib and board. I =
did
have to ease sluggish dampers as the testimonial says, but whether =
failing glue
joints can be attributed to the climate change (higher general humidity, =
especially in the winter-- though nothing like what one finds in other =
parts of
the country), is not at all clear to me. One thing I feel =
justified in
saying: I don't think the soundboard was thoroughly restored from a =
structural
standpoint-- it actually looks to me as though some stuff underneath =
that was
perhaps in marginal condition at the time of restoration was =
simply
ignored. It just goes to show that things aren't always what they
appear....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Greg</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>Greg Granoff RPT<BR>Humboldt State University</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Cramer@BrandonU.CA href="mailto:Cramer@BrandonU.CA">Mark =
Cramer</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">CAUT</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 23, 2004 =
8:47
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> FW: Bluthner =
rebuild</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial =
color=#0000ff size=2>To
follow up with those of you who helped regarding my Bluthner =
action
questions; the owner <SPAN class=770553916-23022004>of the =
6'3"
piano in question </SPAN>declined my original offer<SPAN
class=770553916-23022004>,</SPAN> and for the moment, I haven't =
considered
raising it. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial =
color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial =
color=#0000ff
size=2>Meanwhile a<SPAN class=770553916-23022004> valued</SPAN> =
colleague sent
me the following link <SPAN class=770553916-23022004>(pasted =
below)
</SPAN>for curio<SPAN
class=770553916-23022004>u</SPAN>sity.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial =
color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial =
color=#0000ff size=2>The
rebuilder's site is </FONT><A =
href="http://www.luxurypainos.com/"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>www.luxurypainos.com</FONT></A><FONT =
face=Arial><FONT
color=#0000ff><FONT size=2> <SPAN =
class=770553916-23022004>Their work
appears exquisite, </SPAN><SPAN class=770553916-23022004>and I =
find their
perspective on German pianos and restoration, quite
interesting.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN
=
class=770553916-23022004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </DIV=
>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN class=770553916-23022004>Fitting new =
actions/keyboards to vintage
German pianos is part of what they do, however, they also rebuild =
original
actions with new parts. I am looking forward to correspondance =
with
them.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN
=
class=770553916-23022004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </DIV=
>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN class=770553916-23022004>FYI and
thanks!</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN
=
class=770553916-23022004></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </DIV=
>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN class=770553916-23022004>Mark
Cramer,</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=010423016-23022004><FONT face=Arial><FONT =
color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2><SPAN class=770553916-23022004>Brandon
University</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT><FONT =
face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT><BR></FONT> </DIV></DIV>Dear =
Mark, <BR>I
found this 1890s rebuilt Blüthner offered for sale on =
eBay.:<BR><BR><A
class=moz-txt-link-freetext
=
href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=37059429=
95&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:CA:1">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?=
ViewItem&item=3705942995&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:CA:1</A><BR><BR=
>Notice
that a new Renner action has been installed, and it looks like a brand =
new
keyboard has been made as well.<BR>I </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>