Steel soundbaord. was Re: glass soundboard, was Re: electrical ears

[Wimblees@aol.com]

In a message dated 97-01-21 13:42:29 EST, you write:

>Dear mr Blees,
>
>  Do you remember the name of the piano? In the book *Five Lectures on the
>Acoustic of the Piano* edited by Anders Askenfelt and issued by the Royal
>Academy of Music in Sweden, mr Harald A Conklin Jr in his article mentions
>a piano with a steel soundboard called Frankel, built and constructed in
>Sweden. There is also a picture of a cover of a booklet, found in the old
>files of an American piano company. In the booklet, written in english and
>dated 1923, the piano is described by the constructor himself, Fridolf
>Frankel, who was a Swedish piano builder. Obviously at least one piano
>reached America and the booklet suggests that there were plans for selling
>(perhaps making) the piano over there.
>
>  If it's true that there was only 2 made then I have seen the second piano
>here in an apartment in Östermalm, Stockholm, where I was called to tune
>the piano about eight years ago. The bass bridge was completely broken, so
>the instrument was untunable. Later I lost the adress to the owner of the
>piano, which grieves me to this day. I guess that this piano is lost for
>the world.
>
>  If you have any further information what happened to the Frankel family
>or their projects in the USA I would appriciate very much to take part of
>it. We have a projekt here where we try to gather information of the sadly
>deceased piano industry in Sweden.
>
>Best regards
>Östen Häggmark
>Stockholm, Sweden
>email: haggmark@mailbox.calypso.net
>
>

Dear Osten  (I am sorry, my computer won't type the dots over the letter)

Since I didn't have the pictures anymore, I kept the copies of the patent for
about 5 years in my desk drawer, hoping the customer would call me back. But
since they never did, I threw the papers away. I didn't know at that time
that I would ever need the information again. I am sorry but I do not
remember the name of the piano, or the name of the nventor, so I can't help
you there. I don't even remeber where these people live. I know it was way
out in the country, about 40 miles from my house, and I don't think I could
find the house again.

If I recall, I also had to repair the bass bridge, plus I did some
regulating, and replaced some leather straps on the pedal mechanism. I
originally was called to regulate the action after a moving company tried to
repair it. What happened was is that the sides of the piano broke, leaving
the case and plate seperated from the action and keys. The movers just glued
the two parts together again, not paying attention to the fact that the sides
had to be lined up perfectly, so that the action would fit to the plate. I
had to break the glue joints, and then reglue the sides back on the piano
again, correctly. While I had the piano in the shop, I did all these other
repairs, and that is when I got in trouble with the customer.  Although she
gave me permission to do the work, she didn't ask me how much it was going to
cost, and I guess shw was not prepared to spend as much as I charged.

When you think about it, what are the chances of two technicians, half a
world away, finding out they worked on the only two pianos with a steel
soundboard ever made in the world. Isn't this internet great?

Willem Blees  RPT
St. Louis.