Ivory keytops and A Reproducing Piano's "Voice"
By Mike Walter
> Subject: Ivory keytops (Doug Rhodes)
> Subject: A Reproducing Piano's "Voice" (Terry Smythe)
Dear friends,
I thought I'd throw in a thought or two.
Back in the winter of '92 I brought home a 1935 Chickering grand which had been in storage since '88. When set up in our living room, it was very apparent that a number of ivories, probably about a third of them had become very yellow. Upon leaving the ivories open to the sun at all times, at this time there is now way of telling which were yellow and which were not. Mother nature does wonders if given the proper amount of time.
Concerning loud reproducers, I would hesitate to monkey with the player mechanism to make it sound softer. What I would do first is to make absolutely certain that the piano action matches factory specs as far as drop off and let off are concerned. Don't used today's standards. They are far too lenient. Remember, American Piano Company offered service contracts to their customers, which brought in servicemen twice a year to tune and regulate the piano, making certain that it was up to snuff. Also make certain that there is no drag on poppets going through bushings. Once the player and the piano is in tip top shape, make certain that the piano passes the test roll without a problem, then voice your piano to match the room. After that you should have no problems. (IMHO)
Best wishes, Mike Walter |
(Message sent Wed 8 May 1996, 20:56:55 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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