Disassembling An Upright Piano
R. Sprattling
the 190X Melville Clark Apollo player piano in the basement is either being
abandoned (like the previous owners did) or else I'm moving it. Getting it
outside will require either removing two door frames entire and wrestling the
thing upended on a dolly, or else disassembling the instrument, including case,
into pieces. I'm voting for disassembly, since extensive restoration is needed
anyway.
Any pointers are appreciated.
Rod
Ed Foote
Any pointers are appreciated. >>
Get a tech to tell you if it is worth more than firewood. They may then
point out to you what comes off and how. If you don't draw a picture and keep
each screw labeled, you will run into a lot of problems. Pianos have a large
variety of sizes of screws and they are not usually interchangable.
Life in a basement teaches the piano to expect a LOT of moisture, and when
brought into real world humidity, they sometimes come apart inside.
The piano was only designed to last a few decades, not a century, and you
can make it a money-pit if you don't know the technical condition of your
starting point.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote
CD's at Gasparo.com.
GSCD #332, "Beethoven In the Temperaments"
GSCD #344 . "Six Degrees of Tonality"
Caution, these CD's contain pure intervals and extensive liner notes!
Gary Rimar
** Old piano that's about 100 years old
** Needs "extensive restoration."
** Is not a Steinway or something of that ilk (I could be wrong about
this)
** It is a player, so it is even heavier than a regular piano.
** Other folks have already decided it stays with the house
Pianos are difficult to disassemble, and even tougher to get back
together right.
Unless you REALLY want THIS piano, maybe it is smarter to find a piano
like it that is rebuilt, or find a piano that isn't rebuilt and get it
rebuilt, but then find one in an easier location. If you can get
professional movers to work with the piano (and I sure wouldn't try to
move it myself), then let THEM take apart the doors.
My upright piano (made in 1998 - not a typo) weighs about 700 pounds. It
had to go up a four-turn staircase. Three guys (each of who could dead
lift 350 pounds and bounce it and hold it for over a minute) spent a
solid 90 minutes wrestling my piano up the stairs, and they were pooped.
Your piano probably weighs MORE than mine, and there ain't no way on G-
d's green earth you're moving that puppy on your own and I don't care
WHAT kind of dolly you have.
If you knew how to rebuild this yourself, you'd know how to take it
apart.
Others may disagree with me, including you, but I hope I've been helpful
by putting this into a different perspective.
Gary (you asked "a" or "b", and I said 42) Rimar
In article <erPQ9.15740$Xc....@nwrddc04.gnilink.net>,
rode...@bigfoot.com says...
dw...@cix.compulink.co.uk
> Get a tech to tell you if it
> is worth more than firewood.
... ...
> The piano was only designed
> to last a few decades, not a century
Whoa up. We are talking about a Melville Clark (second half of Story &
Clark, still in business today, original firm) Apollo player of the early
1900s. If this beast plays 88 notes as I suspect it is a real rarity, a
pioneering (ouch, keyboard said "pianoneering") machine in the history of
players. No ordinary tech can be trusted to know this.
No upright has ever been made to last longer than "a few decades". On
that basis no old piano should be considered for renovation.
Assuming that Rod understands he has a big job on his hands anyway, and
that seems obvious, I recommend that the action is lifted out and the
side keyboard brackets are unscrewed and knocked out, after which the
body of the instrument can be removed through any opening narrower than
thirty inches.
(What width are the rolls ? $64,000 question.)
=== dwi...@cix.compulink.co.uk
| \ antispam: remove 2 if emailing
| \ ==========
| [] D Dan Wilson
| / ==========
| / (Pianola Institute, London - www.pianola.org)
===
Eric Gloo
>Whoa up. We are talking about a Melville
>Clark (second half of Story & Clark, still
>in business today, original firm) Apollo
>player of the early 1900s. If this beast
>plays 88 notes as I suspect it is a real
>rarity, a pioneering (ouch, keyboard said
>"pianoneering") machine in the history of
>players. No ordinary tech can be trusted
>to know this.
Yes, Story & Clark is in business today, but is NOT the original firm as
you state. There have been several ownership changes just within the
past 15 or so years. The current Story & Clark is owned by QRS, which
just happened to be founded way back when by Melville Clark.
The Apollo player may have been "a pioneering machine in the history of
players," but does that make it worth restoration? Only a tech
specializing in player restoration can answer that.
Without seeing the piano, I'm suspicious of it's condition, having been
in a basement for years.
How about this? I've got a Ham's "Mars" cold blast tail lamp that's been
in the basement for years. I've been told it's a pioneering machine in
the history of automobile tail lamps. Does this mean it's worth
restoring and using on my rusted-out, engine-blown Model T (which has
been sitting outside for 80 years)? No ordinary car mechanic can be
trusted to know this.
Eric Gloo
Piano Technician
Dwain Lee
old upright pianos upfront. But I'm also a registered architect and licensed
general contractor, and if you think that what you're proposing is easier
than just taking out two door frames and resetting them, you're mistaken.
Also, you'd be surprised to watch an experienced piano mover take it up the
stairway; it would go much more quickly than you'd imagine (and don't even
consider doing that by yourself, or with a friend or two), assuming the
width and height clearances were adequate.
I'd also check the headroom clearance, in addition to the door width. You
should have at least 5 feet clear, measured DIAGONALLY, perpendicular to the
angle of rise of the stair stringer, from the tip of the stair nosing to the
lowest point of the ceiling of the stairway (usually located just over the
lowest stair, but you'll be measuring diagonally from probably the fourth or
fifth step up the stringer). If the basement was finished out after the
piano was originally moved in, there often isn't adequate headroom at that
point to move the piano out. Even still, removing a section of dropped
acoustical or drywall ceiling and replacing it after moving the piano is, by
far, easier than dissassembling the piano to move it.
If you decide against moving the piano, I can also tell you from experience
that the case of an old upright piano makes a nice, warm fire, and can be
the source of nice, carved wood panels etc. for future woodworking projects.
In any case, good luck in whatever you decide.
Dwain Lee
"The Fuehr & Stemmer Piano Page" http://home.netcom.com/arch2/home.html
"The Knabe Project" http://knabeproject.homestead.com
"Dwain Lee Architects" http://www.dlarch.com
"R. Sprattling" <rode...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:erPQ9.15740$Xc....@nwrddc04.gnilink.net...
dw...@cix.compulink.co.uk
> Yes, Story & Clark is in business
> today, but is NOT the original
> firm as you state. There have
> been several ownership changes
> just within the past 15 or so
> years. The current Story & Clark
> is owned by QRS, which just
> happened to be founded way back
> when by Melville Clark. >
But QRS was founded as Clark's roll-making subsidiary. The story was that
letters to "Rolls Dept" were always stuffed in the QRS pigeonhole, there
was no other department sharing those initials, so they made that the
roll label, and later the name of the subsidiary company. QRS has also
changed hands, but it's still the same company with the same goodwill.
> The Apollo player may have been "a pioneering machine in the history of
> players," but does that make it worth restoration? Only a tech
> specializing in player restoration can answer that.
A subtle, and correct, amendment to the original suggestion I objected to.
> How about this? I've got a Ham's
> "Mars" cold blast tail lamp
> that's been in the basement for
> years. I've been told it's a
> pioneering machine in the
> history of automobile tail lamps.
> Does this mean it's worth
> restoring and using on my
> rusted-out, engine-blown Model T
> (which has been sitting outside
> for 80 years)?
>
> No ordinary car mechanic can be
> trusted to know this.
You're agreeing with me, then. Only a crazed Model T specialist would
know (and the owner who will be paying). I've seen a roll-playing organ
in Australia that had been rebuilt from a single original case finial
found at the back of a pub - with the help of a lot of photographs. When
this sort of thing happens to steam locomotives, the result is always
referred to as "a rebuild".