Hi All,

Not that I needed it, but I bought another old piano today. I saw it advertized on Craigslist and it was only a few miles from my home. The family who owned it is moving out of state and they didn't want to take it with them. I paid $50 for it.

It is an old Conover-Cable with the claw-feet and French legs. It needs some work, but not ready for landfill just yet. I'll tinker with it a little and then sell it or give it way. I'll have some fun playing it first...

Here is a YT video of the piano before I unloaded it off my utility trailer.

Another old piano adventure....

I know, I have a sickness... a weakness for old pianos...

Rick

Way cool! Thanks for sharing!

I quite like your rendition of Blueberry Hill Rick, that is the perfect kind of music for that piano. Too bad the bass strings sound really dead - I'll bet with new bass strings that piano would roar.

It is not just a sickness, it is a disease, Rick. I think it has reached epidemic status here on PW. I am definitely infected.

Is there a twelve step program?

Congratulations Rick on your decidedly not new, new to you, not even newish, member of your piano family.

Are the goats jealous?

Congratulations on the new acquisition. It was fun to hear you play it.

If there is, y'all stay away from it. I like what you do for these instruments. It's a gift for the present in a way.

so keep at it! :-)

Forrest

Rick,

Is it strictly the physical instrument that interests you?

An older piano tends to become a family member, developing a personality and history in a way that a sofa or refrigerator does not. To me that's part of the fascination of an older piano, especially if it appears well-cared-for.

It's not a sickness, it is intelligence! That could be an amazing piano. I just bought a Weber upright (1895 ish) for my parents and they had it rebuilt. Wow, what an instrument! It will give my grandma's Steinway K52 a run for it's money anyday. If you end up replacing the hammers, I would recommend Abel, that is what we used on the Weber and it gave it that American Piano richness.
Craig

Rick,

Firstly: you know how to make the feet tap!!!

Secondly: on the issue of tubby bass strings. If you do decide to go into this, and have some time (rather than money) on hand for this piano, I can recommend Reblitz's method for revitalizing old bass strings. I spent about 15 hours on my project piano doing this, and not only do the bass strings look better, but more importantly, their sound has improved remarkably. And I didn't find that the procedure caused undue wear on the pinblock either.

Granted, there have been two or three strings on which the new-found sound didn't last very long, but most of them are still fine, and it's been about a year now.

Good luck! (Looking for any pointers, just drop me a line.)

AWESOME! Blueberry Hill.

Very cool.

Yes...it starts with C, C#, and chromatically up to B...12 steps!

It's best to ease yourself into the program - make it twelve half-steps.

If there is a cure, I don't want one. Love to hear these old beast even if slightly out of tune.

Keep the videos coming.

And keep having fun.

I'm not so convinced about the piano, how's the action?

But you're really good at blueberry hill. Solid playing, nice tempo, even the singing, great!

Thanks for the comments, All!

Yes, I know the old Conover has a lot of wear, and age has certainly taken a toll on it. The action is not too bad… it has the old Billings brass flanges (?). One of the brass flange plates broke while I was tightening the flange screws. I fabricated another one with a piece of flat brass I had laying around my shop. You can still buy the flange plates and I may need more yet, but I’ve got the action working pretty smoothly for now (thanks to Proteck CLP and powdered Teflon ).

It is amazing how long these old action parts can last.

Though there was lots of dust everywhere on the inside, there is surprisingly very little rust on the strings and other metal parts. I figure the piano was at least housed in a relatively environmentally controlled space during most of its life. Oh yea, it also has a heater bar professionally installed behind the foot board.

I’ve got it all taken apart and in the process of replacing some of the chipped and missing ivory pieces on the keys. I had another old upright piano that was given to me that had some decent old ivory key top fronts I was able to salvage.

It may not turn out to be a top-notch instrument, but it will be another project to help me hone my meager piano tech skills and be a lot of fun along the way.

All in all, I think I’ve already had $50 worth of fun and stress relief tinkering with it.

One thing is for sure, I have a renewed respect for real piano rebuilders, restorers and techs.

Rick

That performance alone is worth the 50 bucks! Not so sure about the effort of getting that beast on and off the truck though.

Yes it looks great for a fun project. If you can get the action all right and you get that twoink sound out of the bass strings, it might be fine!

And you didn't even hire the pros to move it. Proves it can be done.

Did you get the " It took 7 guys to get that thing in here" line from the previous owner? I think that is a standard line. If picking up antique pianos is an illness I need help badly. I think we have about 400 of them in the warehouse by now lol. We are just suckers for those old pianos here in Nashville.

Actually, the previous owners (husband & wife & 4 kids) helped me load it on my utility trailer. They did most of the work. I figure that was part of the bargain.

I've taken the gem apart and cleaned out a 100 years worth of dust... I ordered new polymer key top fronts that look like real ivory and glued them on the white keys... that turned out well. I put the keys and action back in yesterday to see how the new key top fronts look and spent about 4 hours playing the heck out of it...

Of course, I needed the practice and the action needs loosening up. Most of the notes repeat pretty fast... some are still sluggish, even after treatment with Protech CLP. I'm hoping the stubborn sluggish notes will smooth out without too much prompting.

I like the tone of the old gal...

The exterior finish has been refinished in the past and it looks like they did a good job... it won't need much; maybe a good cleaning and going over with 0000 steel wool and soapy water.

My sister has alrady expressed interest in the piano; so, when I'm done with it I may give it to her (unless I fall in love with it even more ).

Thanks for all the comments, and Happy Holidays!

Rick

Hi Rick,

Will the crowning glory be a new fallboard decal?

Happy Holidays to All!

Rickster, what's "Protech CLP" if I may ask?

Hi Sam,

I may have mispelled it... it is Protek CLP. It is a special product made especially for acoustic piano action parts. It cleans and lubricates. They sell it here at Piano World at the Piano Supply page. Protek CLP

Rick

Rickster,

Very cool. Thank you. If it is a disease, maybe A&E could do a series "Piano Hoarders NYC", "Piano Hoarders Orange County"!

BTW, where do you find room to keep these old gals as you're rebuilding them?

It really brightened my day.

I thought you all might get a good laugh, or at least a smile, ( ) out of my field engineering set up to treat the tuning pin block on my old Conover upright. Thing is, it worked... well.

When you don’t have the right tools or equipment (or human assistance) you use what you got…

The old gal is responding to my TLC just fine... I can't get over how well I like the tone, in spite of the dead bass strings and warn hammers.

And, J&J, I almost have a piano in every room of my house... I may have build on another room.

Happy New Year!

Yeah Rick!

Simple piano tools are one thing, but most of us don't have a Ford Tractor with a rear boom!!!!!!

Good Job!

Great photo! While the piano was tipped, did you take a minute to tighten up the bottom board screws and the caster screws?

Thanks, Eric.

Actually, yes, I did tighten the caster screws... but not the bottom board screws; I didn't think about those.

And, Marty, I have 3 Ford tractors... Guess I'm a fanatic there too.

By-the-way, I treated the tuning pin block with CA glue. Some of them (tuning pins) felt a little loose (but still holding); but I went ahead and treated all the pins slots.

I'll see how the treatment worked when I give the old gal a full tuning, but for now I'm still enjoying the saloon sound.

Rick

Nothing wrong with improvising. A lot better to use the tractor for tipping than trying to do it without enough help or the right tipper.

my wife is a good piano tipper. She's much stouter than I am. LOL