Handsome Old Timer Needs Bridgework

[Clyde Hollinger]

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Alan,

I doubt if I can help here, but maybe.

If I follow your description, each sticker attaches to the wippen with a
center pin, and *also* attaches to the rocker arm with a center pin.  Am
I correct?  I've seen some stickers that have  thin metal pins coming
out of the bottom and into the rocker arms to hold the sticker in
place.  These aren't all that hard to get apart, and you certainly don't
have to remove the 176 rocker arm screws.

Obviously I can't see the action you are describing, but the thought
going through my mind is this-- if the piano is all that difficult to
get apart, then it would have been about as hard to assemble in the
first place.  What would the manufacturer hope to gain by doing that?  I
just hope you aren't overlooking some easier way of taking the action
out.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT
Lititz, PA, USA

Alan wrote:

>  Evaluated a 1900 Haines Bros. upright yesterday. Many quality
> features evident in the action, etc. Magnificent case with beautiful
> carvings and moldings--all intact. The only cabinet damage is areas of
> veneerial disease (chipped off pieces) along the bottom of each
> side.Some unusual things:Has stickers about 4" long that attach to the
> wippen AND the key with center pins through birds' eyes. There are no
> capstans, per se, but the stickers attach to short rocker arms at the
> back of the key. Each rocker (?) has two adjustment screws . The
> action brackets attach to the long frame bolts in the usual way but
> are also screwed down to the key bed, four brackets with two screws
> each. So removing the action requires removing 4 bolts and 184 screws,
> most of which cannot be reached with an electric screwdriver! Some
> will need to be loosened with an offset screwdriver then taken out by
> hand and the screws at the back of the action brackets require a
> screwdrive that can reach all the way down through the action.
> Removing the keys requires unscrewing 176 very inconvenient screws.
> Sheesh.The wound bass strings are steel, I believe, because under the
> dampers they are very shiny but definitely silver colored, not brass,
> and they appear a little skinnier than one might expect. Restrung
> during WWII is my guess. Oddly, though, if you take them down and beat
> on them to loosen the dirt and stuff, they sound pretty darn good! The
> bass strings do not turn around pins at the top, as is so common in
> modern pianos. They have their own pressure bar and v-bar. The pins
> are in-line so the strings are dead straight from the bridge to the
> tuning pins. There are 6 thin wound trichords on the long bridge and
> plain wire from E3 up.There are no collars around the tuning pins. The
> prospective buyer asked if that was a bad thing and I just said, "Well
> Steinway doesn't use them."Pin block is tunable but not tight--may be
> a problem in the dry season. There is a stain that suggests it was
> doped at one time and the spilled stuff was wiped off (more like
> "smeared around") with a rag. I'm thinking that it's a good candidate
> for CA, especially since it has no collars.Keytops are in great shape,
> maybe slightly yellowed, no chips or splits. One-piece tops. Not
> ivory, not modern plastic. Probably not original, either. Ivorine?
> Might be old plastic from the 60's or something.This piano might be a
> hobbyist or rebuilder's dream but I will just be making it work for
> the owner's children to take lessons on. They are buying it for $350
> if I don't scare them with problems and costs.Soundboard, ribs, frame,
> plate all damage free. Long bridge has one tiny eyelash crack and one
> kinda big one. The bass bridge, however, is a mess. It is doglegged
> with eleven monochords along a horizontal section and 14 bichord pairs
> on a section that angles up about 20 degrees. It is capped and the
> cap, at least, is all cracked up with severe splits, not surprisingly,
> at the dogleg bend, where it is also slighty seperated from the
> bridge. It all sits on an apron with about a 6 inch offset.I've never
> recapped a bridge or made a new one and I don't want to start with
> this baby. Anyone who might be interested in doing this for me, please
> email me privately with an estimate and any information you need, etc.
> tune4u@earthlink.netAlso, anyone with some knowledge or experience on
> this brand from this era, please share your thoughts. It really
> appears to have been a high-end piano even though, at that time, they
> were constructed for Haines Bros. by Winter & Co. (pre Aeolian,
> natch'). If you want to replace steel-wound strings, do the string
> makers know how to make equivalents in brass?Alan R. BarnardSalem, MO
>
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