Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Stringing info on old Bush Lane upright needed

Has anyone got stringing information for the plain wire of a 1918 Bush Lane upright model 10 (known as Pompeian)? The instrument has 60 unwound notes, and all I know for certain is the largest gauge used (19 1/2). Btw, this is my first experience with one of these, and I've been impressed. They stand 58" tall and are built like an ox. This one has elaborate mahagony carvings on the legs' "capitals" and esp the top front panel. But a body and looks only go so far!

Look through the archives, and you will find a link to a spreadsheet that I posted for designing your own stringing scale. The chances of anyone knowing anything about that particular model are about nil.

BDB has it right. That's because no one can tell you anything with out the speaking lengths AND the wire you are going to use. The wire they used in 1918 had different inharmonicty and breaking strength. By having someone do the scale for you, (I had the bass string maker do the scaling) the piano is smooth as far as tension, etc.

Does it look like these?

I have the string info for these in my archives.
I would rescale them if I were you.

We have rebuilt 4 of these monsters.

Yes Rod, that's exactly the beast we have. Do you know what they would have had originally(and what you might recommend for rescaling?

Here is one we did #34215 28 note bass
I can't say if it's the same scale as yours. I've rebuilt two and seen three others that all looked the same inside. In fact I put one in the dump a few years ago. I kept the front board and my finisher made it into a headboard for his bed.

Not sure if I would scale it the same today. I
have new software that I did not have back then.

The original scale
2 unisons .044
8 unisons .042
6 unisons .040
12 unisons .038
10 unisons .036
10 unisons .034
6 unisons .032
6 unisons .030

New scale.
2 unisons .044
4 unisons .042
6 unisons .040
12 unisons .038
4 unisons .037
6 unisons .036
4 unisons .035
6 unisons .034
4 unisons .033
6 unisons .032
4 unisons .031
2 unisons .030

Go and purchace a lottery ticket.

If you win send me some

That's a terrific offering, Ron, and I guess I'm crazy lucky. Btw, I've got some interesting sales literature (and some technical) pertaining several models of the Bush Lane line. About 50 or so pages. Let me know if interested and I'll be happy to pop a copy in the post up to Vancouver.

The serial number on this Pompeian of ours is 40867 (the charts I referenced placed its year at 1918). I've got another experiened contact in Texas who might also confirm whether the internal layout changed in any that he has worked on. Assuming the answer is no, I'll happily proceed with your scaling. Btw, what program did this come from and what are you using today?

P.S. I am going to show my refinisher the pics of the beauties you displayed above. They look spectacular. Do you recall the style of finish you put on the upper one? The luster is great.