Hi all MMDer's,  Kim Bunker here from http://www.playerpianos.com/
The wonderful inventions of Thomas Edison -- well, I would say building
concert pre-fabricated homes was a great idea.  Pianos constructed of
pre-fabricated chicken wire and cement were not such a great idea.

I had one of those once, in a Louie case with matching bench.  The
name escapes me, however rest assured I'll remember it soon and report
back so that you'll be able to steer clear if you ever encounter one.

Anyway I bought this thing as a novelty about nine years ago and do
remember its significance: the three Louie legs and the pedal lyre
weighed in at a whopping 250 pounds.  The case was cast in cement and
had a wire mesh, like chicken wire, to give extra strength to the
construction.

The soundboard was part of the piano, meaning that it was installed
when the cement case was poured.  This process made it technically
impossible to replace the soundboard without destroying the case to
ever get it out.

Being there was so much cement and metal the weight of the 5' 1"
baby grand was nearly 1000 pounds, not including the bench.  The
total weight of a regular full-size grand piano manufactured of wood,
including the bench, was 385 to 400 Lbs.  The bench of this one alone
weighed about 110 pounds.

The worst part I remember was the tone: it was so flat and tinny and a
spinet had infinitely more volume.  I think a lot of the reason here is
that cement is not really a very good tone conductor.  I remember I gave
it away because it was not rebuildable and at best it sounded dreadful.

Nowadays, when anybody tells me they have a piano made out of concert,
I generally tell them it can be used for three things: (1) as an anchor,
(2) as a nice outdoor garden, or (3) even an interesting salad bar in
a restaurant.

Not all inventions created were successful, even if someone like Thomas
Edison invented it.

Kim Bunker