old steinway

[John Musselwhite]

At 01:32 PM 2/14/98 -0800, Don wrote:

>I have been asked to give an opinion on a very old (i.e. still iron wound
>strings) Steinway.
>
>There are only 19 cracks in the soundboard, some of which run under the
>bridge. There are no buzzes. It was last tuned in 1984 to A440 and is now
>12 cents flat.
>
>The intended use is as a concert level instrument.
>
>What would the list recommend as a *miniumum* to get this instrument to
>concert level?

Unless the concerts are by school children or amateurs the "minimum" in my
opinion would be sending it back to the factory to be re-worked and
re-certified (Please, no flames from rebuilders here).

Other than that, the "minimum" would be new hammers, knuckles and bass
strings and a decent regulation. If the hammers are "all right" just change
the knuckles and the bass strings and re-regulate. DO change the knuckles
though, as it will not feel right without them, IMO. You may also have to
rebuild the pedal box too, since of course the pedals are critical.

"Concert Level" to me means being capable of excellent performance by a
professional artist. An older piano with cracks in the SB and bridges will
not perform well no matter what you do to the rest of the instrument. The
best you can do is make it play well, which will at least give an artist a
fighting chance.

		John


John Musselwhite, RPT  - Calgary, Alberta Canada 
musselj@cadvision.com - http://www.cadvision.com/musselj/