Rippen opinions, please!

[antares@euronet.nl]

On zondag, jun 8, 2003, at 16:35 Europe/Amsterdam, Delwin D Fandrich 
wrote:

> Andre has pretty well covered it. One question, though--weren't the 
> Rippen
> grands also flat-strung?
>
> I might only add that some of the verticals had keybeds that were 
> hinged at
> the back and could be folded down into the case to make moving them up 
> and
> down stairs somewhat easier. We sold these pianos for a few years back 
> in
> the 1970s and this feature alone clinched several sales to music 
> majors who
> lived in the upper floors of converted houses.
>
> Also, by the 1970 all Rippen verticals were built without backpost
> assemblies. (I don't know about earlier instruments.) Given this and 
> their
> use of laminated soundboards they were quite stable. We had one in our 
> home
> when it (the house) was destroyed by fire one stormy January day.
> (Portland, Oregon was in the middle of one of its infamous ice storms) 
> The
> firemen broke a hole through the wall just behind the piano, pushed it 
> out
> of the way and set up a large exhaust fan. After the fire the piano 
> sat in
> the cold (well below freezing), unheated house for about a week. After
> finally removing it to our (heated) shop and letting it warm up for a 
> few
> days we found it right back on pitch and barely in need of tuning.
>
> All in all, interesting pianos.
>
> Regards,
>
> Del
>


I'll be awfully honest with you........ I don't know about the Rippens 
having hiched keyboards.
I have only seen those on Pleyel upright.
They were called : Schippers piano or..'a barge piano' as the living 
space on board barges was rather confined. The 'foldable' keyboard was 
a handy solution.

Indeed the Rippens were very strong. Most dealers here rented them out 
a lot for that reason.
here an address where you can see a typical Rippen example of the 60's 
and 70's :


http://www.holla.com/fotos/pbn773.jpg

Last night I thought about the Rippens again and I found a reasonable 
comparison for then :
What came to my mind were the Fazer, Knight and Nordiska uprights from 
the 70's

That's all for now folks........

Antares,
The Netherlands

see my website at : www.concertpianoservice.nl