The detailed pictures on Sam Harris' web site certainly make it easy to
draw certain conclusions about the vintage of his Steinway. Perhaps
the most important detail is that the far left control lever, bass
side, shows only two positions. "Normal" and "Soft". Absent is the
"Dance" position.
This places the piano in the late period of Duo-Art production. While
I do not have a specific year for this configuration, my guess is 1929.
Later modifications such as the floating tracker bar of the 1930-1932
era are absent.
The piano was probably manufactured a year or two before it was fitted
with a Duo-Art, and stored at Aeolian. Once the Duo-Art was in place,
Steinway gave a serial number to the instrument so that when it showed
up at a dealer, it carried a current year serial number.
The fallboard appears to be of the standard Aeolian mounting scheme--
not Steinway. This is typical. With the fallboard held one-half
raised, the mounting screws at the extreme ends can be accessed. These
screws pass through the mounting hardware and into the side edge of the
fallboard. Simply remove all screws and slide the fallboard forward,
away from its pivot point. The hardware will still be attached to the
piano.
Bob Taylor
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