Hi all,  If the guy who wants to turn his concert grand into an Ampico
needs parts, I know someone who has a couple of complete sets.

One piano company here took the parts out of a Knabe Ampico because the
woman didn't like the drawer there.  Another man I know, from Hickory,
has a couple sets for sale.  Although he used to come down to my shop
all the time, when I learned he had done this to a Weber Duo-Art for no
reason other than he felt like it, I made it known to him that he is no
longer welcome in my shop.  I do not care to have any contact with him
at all.

As a restorer, I try so hard to get things back the way they were
originally.  Most of the restorers I know are not rich.  You don't get
rich doing this kind of thing.  You don't do it because there is money
in it.  You do it because of wanting to see the machine play again,
preserve it for history.

I am of the opinion that you may "own" it right now.  But what you have
done is paid for the privilege of care taking it, and enjoying it, but
when you are through with it, you pass it on to the next person as you
got it or better, without destroying it.  When you remove the parts
from a piano it reverts back to a standard manual piano which in time
will lose value until it isn't worth fixing anymore and it is destroyed
too.

With a 9-foot grand, the chances of someone buying it someday who
doesn't appreciate the player mechanism and the drawer getting in the
way of his knees is also very great, and will have the parts removed
and then they too are gone.

A Model 'A' Ford will retain it's value and be around a lot longer
than if some kid turns it into a hot rod.  I smile when I see a well
restored antique car on the road, I beep the horn, it's a salute.
I know it was here before I was born and will probably be here after
I'm gone, provided someone doesn't beef up the tires and put a big
block Chevy engine in it.

I was angry that the Taliban had used their artillery to destroy those
Buddhist statues over there that had been there for 2,000 years.  They
even went into museums and destroyed little figurines.  In the stream
of history they are just a blip, not even as long lasting as some other
governments; now after just a few years they will be gone but the
statues are also gone forever.  This is how I view the collection of
these machines.  They only belong to us for a little while.

This would be a good place to end, but I want to say that if you had
homeless parts to put into a 9-footer, I couldn't see any problem with
that, although a Disklavier might be the better choice even though it
can't touch a pneumatic reproducing system.

It has been suggested that the pump should have metal arms and
pneumatic system changed to accommodate the change to a 9-foot piano.
I fail to see the reasoning in this.  The power of a 9-foot grand comes
from the larger soundboard area, not how hard it is played.  The tone
is better because the strings don't have to be heavier for their
length.  A concert pianist doesn't play any harder or softer than
anyone else, or at least not that much, and if he does, he shouldn't. :-)

The reason he is using a 9-foot grand on the stage is because the power
of the larger sound board area (the "speaker") of the piano is larger
to be heard over the orchestra.  It is naturally louder than a 6-footer,
even played normally.

The concert grand has the same limitations as the 6-footer mechanically,
in that the hammer shanks are made of wood, and strings are steel.
Both of these can be broken on very hard playing.  The reason you want
to hear a reproducing system in a 9-foot piano is not for the loudness
of it, or even the dynamic range, but it would be for the tone.

There is nothing like the beautiful deep rumble that comes out of a
9-foot pianos bass, or the sweetness and clearness of the high treble
which in smaller pianos is more like a "chink".  This again has to do
with the better scale and has nothing to do with the dynamic range the
reproducing system is capable of.

Tony Marsico