Re: Beckwith Pianos
By Larry Mayo
The Beckwith I have seems to be of very high quality. I was hooked on player pianos when, as a struggling college student, I bought it at an auction with 200 rolls. The player had been restored, and while I have discovered a few problems with the job, it was done fairly well. I trucked out my last $400 and had them deliver it to my parent's house. They nearly fainted when the truck showed up at the door, but soon took a liking to my new buy. The Pierce Piano Atlas identified it as being made in 1909, however I'm sure this is incorrect as the style of the cabinet is identical to pictures in 1920s Sears catalogs.
As to quality, the piano itself is bullet-proof. Everything on it seems unusually heavy and well built. The mover told me it was the heaviest piano he ever moved, and that he had moved a lot of them. In the subsequent years, I have rebuilt the entire piano action, restrung it, repainted the harp and re-plated all the brightwork. I think it is a very good quality piano compared to any other I have seen, and well worth the effort and expense of restoration. The mechanism is evidently a Standard with primary valves, or a Standard clone, very easy to work on and repair.
Larry Mayo
|
(Message sent Fri 6 Dec 1996, 14:17:42 GMT, from time zone GMT-0600.) |
|
|
Mechanical
Music Digest™ Archives
