Bob wrote: >Tomorrow I am going to look at an Erard grand that I >moved for someone about 2 years ago. The customer >wants an estimate on rebuilding it. Depends on whether they want to restore or rebuild. For restoration to original condition the cost is very high, very difficult to estimate accurately, and always comes out a lot more than anticipated. The decision whether to restore depends quite a bit on nailing the true date... >Although I rebuild, I would not tackle this one myself so I need >to find someone who is experienced in working on >pianos such as this one that may date back to about 1830. If it really is 1830 it is worth restoring for sure, particularly if it has the original action echelle. These tended to be retrofitted by the factory after the new action was brought out around 1840, so an original early action echelle is quite rare. Even so an 1830s Erard is a wonderful piano and would be ruined with a rebuild, turned into a bastardized piece of junk with modern bits spliced in. It shouldn't be difficult to work out the date. Apart from technical characteristics (keyboard compass, length of c string(s), bracing vs plate, straight vs overstrung etc.) there is the serial number....to interpret that properly you need to determine if it is a London of Paris Erard (look at the nameboard). For comparison, check out the Erard page on my website: http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett/erard_info.htm There are various vintage Erards shown, including my 1836. Also, some mp3 samples of restored Erards, both an 1822 and 1842 Erard. The Louchet link contains quite a bit of Erard information too. Report back please. Stephen -- Dr Stephen Birkett Associate Professor Department of Systems Design Engineering University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G1 E3 Room 3158 tel: 519-888-4567 Ext. 3792 fax: 519-746-4791 PianoTech Lab Room E3-3160 Ext. 7115 mailto: sbirkett[at]real.uwaterloo.ca http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett
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