[pianotech] 35 year old Chickering

[Tom Driscoll]

Unremarkable at best, I worked for a aeolian  dealer around 1980 and they had a collection of woes. Shoddy parts and workmanship all over the place. The  most memorable problem was that there was very little space between the hammers. They were too wide for the design and would hang up when a cloud went overhead. You could space the hammers to not rub and the knuckles would hang up on each other. If you got everything free and all hammers hitting all strings it was a victory albeit usually short lived. 
Cosmetically  the finish coats were tinted to even up the color and had really poor adhesion. End result was flaking chunks of finish on the arms, keyslip stretcher etc. 
I still see them around and they  seem to hang together structurally but as you describe they are best at looking like a grand piano.
Tom Driscoll
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Barbara Richmond 
  To: pianotech 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 9:11 PM
  Subject: [pianotech] 35 year old Chickering


  Greetings list,

  The music director at a church asked me what I knew about Chickering grand pianos--I said that I thought they belonged in someone's living room.  A church member would like to donate a 35 year old small grand.  I started in business in 1982 and worked for a dealer that carried some of those Aeolian pianos, but I don't remember much about them.  Were they problem ridden or just unremarkable?  

  Thanks for your information and opinions.

  Barbara Richmond, RPT
  near Peoria, Illinois




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