Hi Scott, Many years ago I worked on a Bauer , same type construction in a grand here in St. Louis. Jim James Grebe Piano-Forte Tuning & Repair Creator of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups, piano benches, writing instruments (314) 608-4137 WWW.JamesGrebe.com 1526 Raspberry Lane Arnold, MO 63010 BECOME WHAT YOU BELIEVE! pianoman@accessus.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Helms" <tuner@helmsmusic.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 3:48 PM Subject: unusual upright > Hey everybody! > > I have a customer who owns a J. Bauer upright (1923) which is like nothing > I've seen before, although some of the RPT's in my chapter have seen them. > The plate struts are probably 3 or 4 inches deep, there are ribs on both > sides of the soundboard, and the bass bridge is mounted on 11 dowels that > stick out from the bridge apron - the bridge face is probably 5 or 6 > inches from the soundboard! I'm sure the thing weighs a ton and a half, > considering all the extra cast iron in the plate. This brings some > questions to mind: > > 1. Was this an experimental design? Given the expense in manufacturing > (extra plate iron, the extra-deep cabinet, bass bridge construction, etc), > the manufacturer must have been convinced that this was a superior design. > > 2. All of the classes I've attended that deal with bridge construction > emphasize the importance of maximum contact between bridge and soundboard, > and yet this design relies on transmitting the bridge vibrations through > 11 dowels - that doesn't add up to a whole lot of surface area. Why would > this have been considered to be a superior (or even viable) design? > > 3. Now for the nitty gritty - the bass bridge is cracked (not badly split > out, but loose pins)along the top pins and really should be glue-repaired. > It would definitely not be worth the expense to build a new bridge. I have > always tilted pianos to perform this repair, but do I need to be concerned > that my tilter may not handle the extra weight of this particular piano? > If so, does anybody have any suggestions for a safer way to repair the > bridge (short of making a new one)? > > 4. I took pictures of the piano, bridge, etc. because it was interesting > to me - is this piano enough of an oddity that it might be worth > submitting to the Journal? > > I'll be interested to hear your 2 cents worth on this one! > > -Scott > -- > Scott A. Helms, RPT > Helms Music Enterprises > (269) 381-4521 > www.helmsmusic.net > > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC