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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,740
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Thanks Dan, I would love to lay my hands, literally on those. Pictures would be great!
Thanks again.
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,263
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4000 Post Club Member
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I am at that instrument next Monday.
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 43
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Hi Louis, Robert Snyder posts here often and could confirm the Ivory keyboards. Michael Mohr at the factory and any salesman working during these years. I would order one piece Ivory blanks from Renner into the early 80's for approx $300.00, the paperwork weighed more than the package. I would have to pick up the package at customs. But no problems. Renner would apologize that they had only #2 grade. After that I would use Yamaha Ivorite blanks, but they started asking why I needed Qty of 88 of note #88.
Back at the store in the 80's a child walked through the door and announced at the top of her voice "If you killed Elephants to build any of these pianos we are leaving" and then started her inspection. 8yrs old my guess.
All the best!
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 32,060
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Greetings,
Henry Steinway may have said that ivory was a lousy material, but he had reasons that had nothing to do with playing the instrument. He was a manufacturer, and ivory was less profitable than plastic, thus it was "lousy". No, he was talking about the propensity of ivory to chip, crack, yellow, and come loose. However, there is a property of ivory that performing pianists understand. On a molecular, or slightly larger level(cellular?), the 'tooth' of ivory's surface is greater than the film thickness of human skin oils. This means that no matter what is on the surface, there are still "peaks" sticking up through it, so there is still a direct physical contact between skin and piano. Plastic surfaces are far flatter; when there is a film of oil on its surface, the finger never actually touches the plastic.
This has a bearing on performance, as the ivory provides a more unchanging grip from start to finish, whereas bone-dry plastic is worlds away from a keyboard that hands have just played a couple of sonatas on. This is what performers have mentioned to me, the ivory stays the same. It feels better to me, without question.
Regards, There are any number of other materials that either have the same property or can be made that with it, without the problems of ivory.
Semipro Tech
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Joined: Apr 2007
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We were importing Bechstein, Sauter and Feurich pianos in te 80's, all with one piece Ivory, and we also purchased ivory sets from Kluge, so this doesn't surprise me. I also sold numerous Kawai kg-6 pianos with ivory in the early 80's.
Last edited by master88er; 12/14/12 01:40 AM.
Russell I. Kassman Technician -Consultant FORMER/Semi-Retired: USA Rep.for C.Bechstein & Sauter; Founder/R. KASSMAN Piano; Consultant - GUANGZHOU Pearl River Piano Co. www.RussellKassman.com
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 16,105
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Rick, how about putting up pictures of those.
Being here in Canada, and having worked with many Yamahas and Kawais of those years, I have never seen one piece Ivory on them.
I could be wrong, but I am genuinely curious.
Regards Again, I could be wrong, but that bold grain (different on each key top) is hard to ignore. Here are some pics in an old PW thread from 2010. Like Dan said, it is hard to see the grain in the photos. Pictures of Yamaha C7 one piece ivory key tops Not sure what else I can do or say to prove it... but you too are welcome to come and check it out for yourself. Hope we are not drifting too far off topic. Rick
Piano enthusiast and amateur musician: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated". Yamaha C7. YouTube Channel
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