[pianotech] Restoring Museum Pianos

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Granted, the piano in question is probably not the only one in existence. It
does, however, reside in a museum and museums have a somewhat different
mandate than does your typical recital hall or, for that matter, convent.
You go to a museum to encounter things as they were, not as you wish they
might be. If the piano in David's pictures resided in my living room I might
feel some differently about it but it doesn't; it resides in a museum. As
such it should, I think, remain a window in time; it should keep the scale
it was built with even if that was some erratic and produces an uneven tone.
It should keep that obsolete and awkward Brown action as an indicator of
just how stubborn manufacturers can sometimes be. Chickering's continued use
of this action reminds me of Ford and their infamous "Twin I-Beam"
suspension; they continued to use this feature on their pickups for years
after it had become common knowledge that the design was inherently
defective.

As you say, old Jonas produced a lot of strange and wonderful instruments
during his career and I've learned a lot from studying them and trying to
figure out what he might have been thinking. He didn't make this one,
however. Jonas died toward the end of 1854, just before his new
steam-powered factory was completed. The piano shown in David's pictures
would have been built by his sons (at least a couple of whom may have been
just as wacko as the old man). 

ddf

Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Design & Fabrication
620 South Tower Avenue
Centralia, Washington 98531 USA
del at fandrichpiano.com
ddfandrich at gmail.com
Phone  360.736.7563


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 8:08 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Restoring Museum Pianos

On 1/5/2011 9:20 AM, David Love wrote:
> Speaking of old Chickerings, here's one.  I've included a picture of 
> the bridge configuration.


One very like this resides in the parlor of a local convent. You can lean
inside, look down, and see your feet through the cracks. They used to ask
occasionally what it would cost to "get it working", but the answer always
failed to meet the budget by a couple of orders of magnitude. So it sat, and
poor Sister Theresa (I forget her name) played it anyway year after year.

As Joe said, these aren't plentiful, but they aren't particularly
historically relevant rarities either. As to what Chickering's intent was
for sound production, serviceability, or anything else; that has been the
mystery through what seems like hundreds of wild (some radical) design
experiments through Chickering's history. The old man apparently never found
what he was looking for, as the designs never stabilized. 
What a dream job though - build anything you'd like to try today, sell
everything you make, and let the academics, engineers, and mechanics ponder
it in perpetuity!

In the room with the Chickering sits the most gorgeous table I've ever seen.
It's Brazilian rosewood, with legs somewhat like those on the Chickering.
Visually, the proportions are very pleasing and comfortable, to me at least.
The top and "skirt" are just bulky enough to balance the legs, and the total
effect is an unusual blend of delicate grace and power. It's a chopped
square.

Ron N