Sohmer Grand

[John Gunderson]

With regard to Sohmer pianos:  Hugo Sohmer was one of those piano makers who
danced to the beat of a different drum (although he wasn't quite as bad as Fred
Mathushek or Kranich & Bach).  According to Alfred Dolge, in his book "Pianos and
their makers" Hugo Sohmer and Victor Herbert were drinking buddies, maybe that had
something to do with the creation of this aggraffe bridge (I know first hand about
how that can happen having also had several major revelations to advance the art
of piano construction while in the company of Jack Daniels and Boone's Farm.
Fortunately I never owned a piano company).  I can't give you any particulars
about the bridge but I'm fairly sure that Sohmer abandoned the idea shortly after
that piano was sold and went back to a tradition type bridge.

With regard to the "Rebuild" job:  aside from the pin block to key bed clearance
problem, how is the restringing job.  Should the piano be sent back?


Daniel Jackson wrote:

> Hello all,
>         I was called in to check out some problems with this old Sohmer grand
> 23482 #11 (what's the #11?). According to Pierce, this is between 1895
> and 1900. The piano was sold as a "rebuild" by a dealer. Amoung other
> things it has a new pin block.
>         I don't remember having ever seen a piano with a treble bridge like
> this. It has agraffes on the bridge for a cut off and no side bearing on
> the bridge. The bass bridge is traditional (and nicely done). The other
> oddity is that there are no glides on the keyframe.  Anyone with info or
> experience with this please share.
>         The complaint was that the action was stuck in shift mode and that
> hammers were hitting more than one note and needed aligning.
>         I unscrewed the endblocks - the action stayed shifted. I removed the
> endblocks and keyslip and after a little help, it returned. When I began
> to remove the action, I found it snug to the left side. After I got it
> out I saw signs of the hammer flange screws hitting the bottom of the
> new pinblock. Further, I found that the bass hammers were forced down so
> much that they jammed tight on the hammer rest rail. I can't believe
> none are broken.
>         So I've concluded that the pinblock really needs to be shaved down a
> bit. Any thoughts? (I have quite a few myself already)
>         After cleaning the bed and keyframe and lighly sanding and freeing the
> little wheel in the left endblock it's shifting nicely.
>                 Swamped with work in Wmbg.......dan j