Check out Brigham's latest episode of Piano Talk as he and his technicians begin the process of rebuilding a Steinway Model A grand piano:
Today we started the actual teardown of the Steinway Model A grand piano that we’re rebuilding for the broadcast. We started by removing all of the cabinet parts. We’re working on removing all the hardware parts such as hinges, locks, lyres, strike plates, and hardware screws. Anything cosmetic or cabinet related gets put into labeled bags so that later in the rebuilding process we can easily find the parts we need. We then took 6 or 8 measurements of the downbearing of the strings onto the bridge with the strings on so that the soundboard was loaded under tension. We took out the old tuning pins and measured the diameter and length of each. We made five wedges to get the exact location where the plate comes up; we labeled those wedges meticulously so that after refinishing, we know exactly where to replace it. We also carefully measured the plate height using blocks of wood with screws on top screwed up to meet the bottom of the plate exactly. We marked the location of these plate heights by tracing them on the keyboard.
Tune in next time for more Piano Talk from Brigham and his amazing team! Live broadcasts are scheduled every Wednesday morning.