[pianotech] Julius Bauer finished

[Laura Olsen]

Has anyone done any work on a J Bauer upright  of this vintage?  (Plates by Godzilla as well....must be named after their movers...)

Laura Olsen RPT
Barrington, IL
On Jul 4, 2011, at 1:05 AM, Dale Erwin wrote:

>    Thanks Del
>   I can probably get some of those type steroids from Godzilla plate makers. I get the idea. 
>  Surely some one out there must see these relics in the larger sizes.  Anyone? 
>   Perhaps thieves are breaking in to cash in on the cast iron stock pile encased in these babys and they are disappearing
>  My next project is to invest in equipment that records  stellar sounding pianos as they really sound and place them on files on my Web site or on you tube so people don't just think I'm honking my own horn. It would be good to save these for future generations or just for the average passionate audiophile on this list who loves the sound of piano music on an instrument with an all star voice.  Really,  its addictive..in the best sense of the term
>  Dale Erwin
> 
> 
> Fascinating piano. If any of you ever has a chance to examine one of these up close and personal they are well worth the time and effort. They must have been frightfully expensive pianos to build but what glorious pianos. Dale, think of the sound your piano has and then put it on steroids.
>  
> ddf
>  
> Delwin D Fandrich
> Piano Design & Fabrication
> 6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA
> Phone  360.515.0119 — Cell  360.388.6525
> del at fandrichpiano.com — ddfandrich at gmail.com
>  
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Dale Erwin
> Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2011 9:19 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Julius Bauer finished
>  
> Del/Laura
>  This would be something to see/play one. Ok,...I know it was 25 years ago but what was your impressions of the sound/power/sonority/subjective experience?
>  Mine is a very clear and full. A lovely musical  sounding piano and to my ear a finer sound than so many things these days especially for 5 ft 6insches. Its a wide bodied case and so has a few more square inches of board area. The double crowned construction with the ribbing done up this way must have been very expensive to make. I wouldn't have the foggiest notion of how to try to replicate the board set up though for enough money... I would try
>   Laura, the plate was made by a now defunct plate manufacturer. Godzilla piano plates....really. 
>  Yours was the same vintage. I marvel at the sheer ingenuity of folks that designed wonders like this. 
>  BTW.....Probably the piano movers union bought them out....hmmm....
> 
> The usual standing invitation to visit this relic is open to any brethren  who wander thru the area.
>  
>  
> Dale S. Erwin
> www.Erwinspiano.com
> 209-577-8397
> 209-985-0990
> Ronsen hammers/prep
> Sitka Sound boards
> Belly packages
> 
>  Poor decisions are rarely made right by a greater commitment to them. 
>   "David Love"
>  
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Delwin D Fandrich <del at fandrichpiano.com>
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Sun, Jul 3, 2011 8:01 pm
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Julius Bauer finished
> Unfortunately I don’t remember the date—this was 25 years ago. I never had the piano officially weighed but my best estimate was somewhere around 2,000 lbs. (A Baldwin SD-10 is, if memory serves, about 1,150 lbs.
>  
> ddf
>  
> Delwin D Fandrich
> Piano Design & Fabrication
> 6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA
> Phone  360.515.0119 — Cell  360.388.6525
> del at fandrichpiano.com — ddfandrich at gmail.com
>  
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Laura Olsen
> Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2011 7:47 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Julius Bauer finished
>  
> A 9'Bauer! How old was it?  It must have been a tank. Any idea how much it weighed?
>  
> Laura Olsen
> Barrington, IL 
> On Jul 3, 2011, at 7:54 PM, Delwin D Fandrich wrote:
>  
> For several years I owned a 9’ Bauer grand. It looked just like an elongated version of Dale’s piano. This was the heaviest piano I’ve ever seen. I often pondered what the looks on the foundryman’s face must have been like when the Bauer folks showed up with that plate design.
>  
> ddf
>  
> Delwin D Fandrich
> Piano Design & Fabrication
> 6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA
> Phone  360.515.0119 — Cell  360.388.6525
> del at fandrichpiano.com — ddfandrich at gmail.com
>  
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Laura Olsen
> Sent: Sunday, July 03, 2011 5:40 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Julius Bauer finished
>  
> Hi Dale,
>  
> I had one of these I took care of for about 15 years.  Huge plate.  Ribs on both sides of the soundboard, right?  Mine was serial number 35073.  Was that close to yours?
> I had a Bauer upright of the same vintage (and heft to the plate).  Who cast those plates?  They were real knuckle busters. (the uprights). There was a picture on a Journal of the Chicago Opera House, pre 1871 and a W.W. Kimball store and J. Bauer store flanked the main entrance.  I think it's in Jack Greenfield's book The History of Midwestern Piano Manufacturing that J. Bauer was established in Chicago in 1857.  A chief competitor of Kimball in those days.  It was bought by Wurlitzer in 1930 and the name dropped by 1940.  What do you think of that soundboard configuration?  I'll have to check the archives for your trials and tribulations during the rebuilding process.  It looks fabulous. Congratulations.
>  
> Laura Olsen
> Barrington, IL
>  
> On Jun 30, 2011, at 10:10 PM, Dale Erwin wrote:
> 
> 
>  
>   Ok,.... How bout some really fun piano news. Today it finally got done.
>   Many will recall my endeavor over the last few years to restore a 5ft 6  inch Julius Bauer grand circa 1924.
>   Well,... my original assessment about its unique construction, and possible tonal glory, has now been vindicated.
>  It sound fantastic! I have it the same room with my Hot rod B. They are interestingly in similar tonal pockets/universes.
>   Clear floating sustaining sound. A very respectable legitimate sounding bottom end and a decent bass/tenor break. A full bodied and balanced sound. Tenor trebles are clear and singing.
>   Tone powered by Ronsen Weickert. Of course!
>   A little filing over the tops and pound in some tunings and it sound gorgeous. Playing real music on this overweight beast is a real listening pleasure. Affectioanly named ller when the boys moved it 4 years ago. There is so much weight in the palte that it fell over and tried to squash Dennis in the trailer. It hit the side and not him.
> More pictures
> <Julius -1.jpg>
>  
> Web site at WWW. Erwinspiano.com under pianos for sle
> 
> 
> 
> Dale S. Erwin
> www.Erwinspiano.com
> 209-577-8397
> 209-985-0990
> Ronsen hammers/prep
> Sitka Sound boards
> Belly packages
> 
>  Poor decisions are rarely made right by a greater commitment to them. 
>   "David Love"
> = <Julius Bauer 2.jpg>
>  
>  
> 

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