Stieff piano "chop chop chop"

[Frank Weston]

Andy, 

If you want a Stieff upright player to restore, write me.  I have one in my
shop that has been abandoned by the owner.  The player is in pretty good
shape, the case is rough, and the action needs a total overhaul, but it
would be far less work, and far more suitable than the project you are
proposing.

Frank Weston

----------
> From: Andy&Chris Taylor <tempola@swbell.net>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Stieff piano "chop chop chop"
> Date: Thursday, September 03, 1998 3:31 AM
> 
> Hi all.
> Thanks for all who posted about me converting the Stieff piano. I really
> appreciate all the comments too, positive and negative. I get my
pianotech
> in digest form, it is less confusing, and that is why I dont respond
> privately to every letter.
> 
> I also found out that this brand of piano is very respected. But I do
wonder
> about market value, since I picked this piano up for a song(I even played
> the song for them on a new Kawaii grand) from a piano dealer. I also got
a
> nice and heavy Vose and sons with an unusual keybed from the same place
for
> $50 I almost bought a chickering upright, but Chrissy said "that's enough
> for now"<grin>
> 
>  I don't doubt that either of these pianos are desirable, But uprights
are
> VERY hard to sell here for some reason. Players go out the door as soon
as I
> play the first roll it seems!
> 
> I would like to explain something about myself to the group. I do not
"chop
> up" or swap parts on pianos for the fun of it. I have limited funds to
spend
> on these projects. More times than not, I end up with complete basket
case
> pianos (most of the Fosters), free for the hauling,
>  that the rebuilders either pronounce "dead" or not worth the effort to
> revive. It takes me long hard hours of labor and love before I can even
play
> one note!
> 
> I get a kick out of rebuilding what is considered absolute junk, and
making
> a beautiful looking and sounding piano that works as good as the day it
was
> built.
> 
> Consider for a moment, why I drag a bunch of old Foster pianos
home.(besides
> being crazy) This actually happened: One Foster has a big hole in the
> soundboard, and a cracked plate(a forklift driver error) The other Foster
> had been in the middle of a bad bar fight and the case and piano action
> looked like it had been on the front line in World war 2! I can still see
> the owners of these wrecks shaking their heads in disbelief knowing that
> some nut was willing to drive from Missouri and haul what was left away!
> 
> See, I learned a long time ago the only way to become a experienced piano
> person was to get in deep in the cheaper pianos and rebuild them. I would
> not learn much by just tuning and regulating, or picking pianos that
wasn't
> much of a challenge, I had to put myself in a situation that required me
to
> think like the factory
> 
> Neither piano was useable by itself. and would have met certain "death"
If I
> hadn't went after them. Both had major damage. I would never part out a
> rebuildable piano, I happen to have three Fosters that I was able to
rebuild
> and they sit here in the parlor, one with a pianomation. neither of these
> units have parts  from other pianos, they were nice enough to be
> rebuildable.
> 
> But back to the two destroyed pianos. We carefully took those two pianos
> apart right down the the frames. there were parts everywhere. basically,
I
> had a Nice case with a ruined back, and a ruined case and piano action
with
> a rebuildable back of the same brand, same scale. one was a player and
the
> one I 'stole" the back from was a regular upright.
> 
> Now I had to force myself to think like the factory and construct a new
> piano from what was useable. Chris and I learned much from the
experience,
> The importance of the striking point, how the plate was bedded down, and
how
> to set the correct keybed position, and how to prep and align a action
> /dampers to the strings.
> 
> What we ended up with (after a years spare time) was a New looking Foster
> player piano that looked factory perfect, nothing 'rigged" anywhere. I
> think I am more proud of that piano than any we have. people who see it
and
> play it, does not believe the story behind the piano, until they see the
> destroyed parts I have kept.
> 
> When we were building this piano, folks called me a "butcher" and even
worse
> at times. I guess that building one piano from two wrecks is just unheard
of
> in this trade, that you can and should revive every unit, and somehow it
is
> a 'sin" to swap parts. people who rebuild old cars do the same thing, and
> nobody is laughing.
> 
> I can also understand why some in the group thinks that I am going to
'chop
> up' the stieff
> Most people just dont believe that you can convert a piano without
ruining
> it, and that is exactly what usually happens every time such a conversion
is
> attempted, people dont think ahead in such a project, or they just stick
the
> pneumatic junk in without planning how the case is going to look.
> 
> my approach to the Stieff is simply this, "dont change anything that
can't
> be changed back" this feature can be designed  right in if just a little
> planning is used!
> 
> here is our goal of the Stieff, to construct a complete player piano with
a
> QUALITY piano, that looks factory, works like it should, doesn't looked
> 'rigged or butchered" inside or out.
> 
> I can see the looks on the faces of many a experienced piano person here
> thinking that I have totally lost my mind. Will I make money on this?
> probably not! but, It will expand my experience, and that is what I am
> after.
> 
> Andy
> 
> " a harp is a nude piano"<g>
> 
>