Re: Adding a 2nd Crescendo
By Terry Smythe
> From: Patrick Mullarky <pat@nwce.com>
> I have a 1934 Marshall & Wendall 4'10" "Baby B" Ampico. It has a B Drawer,
> Type 2 B stack, and a B pump... everything else is A.
> The piano has only one Crescendo
> Would it be against the credo of restoration to add the second, Bass
> Crescendo?
I have a 1935 George Steck Ampico A/B. It too came with a single crescendo. It was also lacking compensators and a few other components. It performs exceedingly well.
There is general agreement that most of the reproducing pianos built in the 30's were assembled out of spare parts left over from the termination of production in early 30's. I have seen a 1935 Weber containing a Duo-Art system, but equipped with an Ampico B drawer. And now your variation. Faced with a diminishing market and an even more diminishing supply of parts, it seems highly probable that experiments were likely conducted to find out how little they could get away with in those years.
I have added a secondo crescendo to my piano, I have no quarrels with my conscience, and the performance has been significantly improved. I say go for it.
Views of others?
Regards,
Terry
(Coming to you from beautiful downtown St. Louis, with AMICA Convention underway tomorrow morning. :-)
Terry Smythe (204) 832-3982 (voice/fax)
55 Rowand Avenue smythe@mts.net
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3J 2n6 smythe@freenet.mb.ca
Home page: http://www.mts.net/~smythe |
(Message sent Wed 26 Jun 1996, 03:53:50 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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