Avery Todd wrote: > Del, > > SNIP > > Any chance you could elaborate any on this? > > (Inside joke. "Killer B" is what we privately call our Model B conversion.) > > Avery > > ___________________________ > Avery Todd, RPT > Moores School of Music > University of Houston > Houston, TX 77204-4893 > 713-743-3226 > atodd@uh.edu > http://www.uh.edu/music/ Avery, This is a high performance conversion of the Model B grand. We start with a B of any age and strip it down to the bare rim and framework. We install several additional rim/belly braces and a structural soundboard cut-off bar. I have designed a new soundboard and rib scale along with a somewhat different method of bellying the board than the process that has been traditionally used. I have also designed a new tenor/treble bridge and a new stringing scale to go with it. The bass string scale is also modified. We modify the plate a bit to remove the tuned aliquot design and improve string termination and remove the miscellaneous string buzzes and whistles. The action is left alone except for normal rebuilding/remanufacturing work. If it is old and worn, all parts are replaced with the appropriate new Renner parts. If we're working on a newer piano we check the action geometry and do whatever is necessary. Hammers are either Steinway or Issacs. Everything else is much too hard. Even these have to be needled, sometimes through C-88. The result is a piano with a much cleaner and articulate bass section, a much smoother (nearly invisible) bass/tenor break, a much more articulate upper tenor/treble section with both more power and longer sustain (I'm working on ways to put several additional dampers in the piano -- it needs them) and a much brighter and cleaner treble section. Again, with no lacquer in the hammers. Not even at the top. (It's not that I'm so opposed to lacquer in hammers, it's just that it's not necessary.) I hope that answers your question. If you would like more details, send my your mailing address and I'll send you a copy of our newsletter. Regards, Del
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC