<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: Restoring Collard & Collard Grand</title></head><body> <div>A few quick thoughts, after a long day, if I goof please let me know......</div> <div><br></div> <div><br></div> <div><br></div> <div>On 3/3/05, Peter Joris said:</div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">Currently I am restoring a Collard & Collard Grand Serial: 16016 this should date between 1830 and 1840 I think.</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>Does anything about it make you think it is this early besides the number? Is it staight strung, no plate (gap spacers instead), 6 1/2 8va range, square pins, etc? I'd suspect sight unseen that it is actually much newer, very unusual to see one that old.</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">Im looking for information about what kind of strings to use for the restinging, what felt to use for refelting the hammers etc.</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>If it really is that old, the hammers were probably a combination of felt and leather layers. Rose C wire might work. If newer consider puresound, I dont know of any other softer wire for victorian pianos. There is a co. in France that will recover old moldings, Fletcher and Newman used to, but I think they are out of the business.</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">It was tuned to A440 and it holds very well.</font></blockquote> <div><br> If it really is that old 440 is probably way high.</div> <div><br> <br> </div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">I am thinking of a rescale, so it can be tuned at A440 afterwards with a lower tension, doess anybody has experience with this?</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div><br></div> <div>If it is a later instrument (1880s?), it was probably tuned higher than 440, strung fairly heavy, and actually wants a higher tension to sound decent. If you lower tension you will loose tone. If it is from the 30's you want to think about tuning at 425 or 430 at the highest.</div> </body> </html>