1963 Mason & Hamlin console question

[Michael Magness]

On 9/11/07, John Ross <jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca> wrote:
>
> Some Heintzmans, which was a quality Canadian piano, used plastic parts on
> some uprights.
> The plastic shattered, on one that I worked on. I changed the flanges,
> jacks
> and backchecks, to get it working. Might even have been some other part as
> well.
> I didn't consider it 'fun', but then again, I don't think Joe, meant that,
> in a fun sense.
> John M. Ross
> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
> jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joe And Penny Goss" <imatunr at srvinet.com>
> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 3:07 PM
> Subject: Re: 1963 Mason & Hamlin console question
>
>
> > Plastic catchers, damper lever and flange, hammer flange, and jack
> flange
> > if
> > I remember correctly.
> > Expect lots of fun replacing all.
> > Joe Goss RPT
> > Mother Goose Tools
> > imatunr at srvinet.com
> > www.mothergoosetools.com
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88 at hotmail.com>
> > To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 11:29 AM
> > Subject: 1963 Mason & Hamlin console question
> >
> >
> >> Hello all,
> >>
> >> although I have not seen this piano in person yet, I'm told by a fellow
> > tech
> >> that M&H uprights from about the 50's to early-mid 60's usually had
> *all*
> >> plastic flanges in the action! Does anyone here agree with this? I
> >> thought
> >> M&S was on par with Steinway for qualtiy, but maybe that only holds
> true
> > for
> >> the Grands, and not the verticals. Appreciate any feedback on this
> matter
> >> asap. Thanks!
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Terry Peterson
> >>
> >> _________________________________________________________________
> >> More photos; more messages; more whatever. Windows Live Hotmail - NOW
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> >>
> >
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> >>
> >
>
> If you want a parial list of some "good old american Piano names" gone bad
after being purchased by Aeolian look up Aeolian in the Piano Atlas! Mason &
Hamlin just happened to be one of the first, probably because they were from
the same town as Aeolian!
By the time Aeolian finally went bankrupt in 1985 they were making 37 brands
of pianos many of them stencil brands. What are stencil brands, you may ask,
those are the pianos they didn't bother having the name cast into the plate
for, just a stencil for the fallboard. Most of their pianos were identical
inside just the names were changed on the outside(to protect the guilty)they
were all very poor quality, mostly spinets and 39" consoles with compact
actions. Supposedly Chickering was still privately owned and was having
their pianos made for them by Aeolian and were supposed to be of slightly
higher quality. I always looked for it but could never detect it.
The belief was that by having so many names they could market low-end pianos
to every dealer in a given market and the consumer would be none-the-wiser.
Similar to what is done now by the asian companies having several different
brand names available. Such as Samick, Kohler & Campbell, Knabe or Young
Chang, Weber, George Steck etc. Which I'm sure they learned from Aeolian.

As for the plastics most of the companies tried the plastic flanges in their
spinets and consoles along with the plastic elbows in spinets, damper
assembly(the whole thing except for the wire and the damper head in some
cases), backchecks, jacks etc. Not just those mentioned Wurlitzer got in on
it too and many others. As for Steinway, they aren't immune, there is
vertigris and of course the Teflon bushing fiasco.

I'm certain you have seen the butt plates on some of the Asian pianos, which
are universally disliked by most of the techs I know. It might interest you
to know that those were first used on American uprights about 100 years ago,
so there really isn't much new under the sun!

Mike

-- 
Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life
as a continuous learning experience.
- Denis Waitley


Michael Magness
Magness Piano Service
608-786-4404
www.IFixPianos.com
email mike at ifixpianos.com
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