<HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1251"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <P> <DIV>List,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Today I'm disassembling an old Bechstein upright for refinish and restringing.  Serial number dates it 1883.  Interesting features:  full cast plate, including full coverage of tuning pin field.  Wooden (mahogany) action brackets, at ends only  (no intermediate brackets).    Relatively small for an upright, with only 85 notes. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I would appreciate any insights you might have regarding what pitch it would have been designed for.  I've found brief mention of standards adopted in 1885 in Vienna (435) and London (455), however C. Bechstein was in Berlin.  I would like to evaluate and improve on the scale - obviously got to know what pitch to tune it to when I'm done.  The existing strings and pins appear uniformly old, but I wouldn't want to assume they're original.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>thanks for any info on pitch / tension</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Mike</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Michael Spalding</DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:spalding48@earthlink.net">spalding48@earthlink.net</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <P></P></BODY></HTML>