Fuehr & Stemmer

[Kenneth W. Burton]

	Jerry,

	I presume you are describing a large upright, about 52 to 54
inches in height. I would set the hammer blow at 1 7/8 inches and go from
there. I have done this countless times and it is usually what makes the
piano happy.

	Ken Burton "Doctor Piano" Calgary Alberta

On Fri, 24 Oct 1997, Jerry Hunt wrote:

> 
> I'm in the process of doing some repairs to a Fuehr & Stemmer upright
> that accroding to Pierce was made in 1911. It has apparently been
> rebuilt somewhere along the way and is structurally in very good
> condition. However, as soon as I opened the piano and saw that every one
> of the bridle straps was separated, it was obvious that this piano had
> been home to rodents at some time (the piano had been in the owner's
> dad's "shed" for a couple of years).
> My first question is, is anyone familiar with this piano, and if so,
> what's your overall opinion of the quality of this brand (which despite
> the German name was made in Chicago).
> Measurements are as follows: blow distance average 2 1/8", dip 7/16, let
> off is reasonable, but checking is from 1/16 to 1+". Is there any reason
> not to set the blow distance to 1 3/4? The hammers are in good enough
> shape to not be a factor.
> Which brings me to my final question. The main reason that the blow
> distance is so far is that the hammer rail rest pads are very compacted.
> (I'm talking about the pads where the hammer rest rail sits on the
> action brackets.) Neither of my supplier catalogs (Schaff and APSCO)
> list these pads. My question is, where can one get replacement pads, or
> what do you use as an alternative?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>