Anyone heard from JPM???

Do you think the aliens have picked him up yet?

LOL!!

And no, I haven't heard anything from him in awhile.

Oh, please!! However, I did arrive in Roswell just in time for the big UFO Festival . It drew some pretty unusual people most of whom arrived on Harleys. As far as I know, none of them were transported anywhere other than to jail.

I've been in town over a week but just got internet yesterday. The DSL I ordered created problems for the security system so I switched to a cable modem. Took a couple of days to get the installer over to the house.

I will post more about the trip out west later and hopefully will have some pictures of the house and piano room soon.

I miss you Cat. KS I hope you're enjoying the new AF.

JP

I don't have it yet.

Good to hear from you, though!

This is our family home. My great grandparents built the original structure in 1895, and each succeeding generation added to it. Supposedly, it is the 3rd oldest home in town.

The room behind the Kranich & Bach is a guest BR. The room next to the fireplace is the "Sun Porch". The Bechstein sits in the northwest corner of the Living Room on exterior walls. The west and north side of the house has a large exterior porch that wraps around the house so the piano gets no direct sunlight. I normally keep the lower shudders closed during the day anyway. The vents for the A/C have diverters to direct the air under and away from the soundboards of both pianos.

The piano room:

1928 Kranich & Bach, 7'3", ribbon mahogany




1997 C. Bechstein, Model B, 6'10", polished ebony





It took 3 solid days of driving to get from VA to NM. The piano was off-loaded by local piano movers from the 16 ft truck I rented to haul the piano plus 5000 lbs of other household goods. Everything went as planned. No problems.

The house is at 44% RH which is the same RH as the house in VA. (Outside the temp has been in the high 90s - low 100s during the day and low 70s at night. The outside RH ranges from mid 40s% - mid 50s% in the early morning to the high teens - low 20s% during the heat of the day.) The Bechstein sounds good but I still may have it tuned in about a month or so, after it fully acclimates to its new home.

It's nice to finally have adequate space to play the Bechstein with the hood up. Acoustically, the LR seems to accommodate the piano's size and power fairly well. When I open up all the doors to the LR the piano reverberates throughout the entire first floor.

The K&B is the piano I learned on. It needs to be rebuilt. I may have the work done or, depending on what the future holds, I might take on the project myself. Right now the K&B is just a nice piece of furniture ... a place to organize my sheet music and display family photos. After it is rebuilt it might be a pretty sweet piano.

JP

Beautiful home, beautiful pianos....can't find anything wrong! Glad everything went well.

Wow - beautiful!

JPM? I thought you were talking about Juan Pablo Montoya who just won this past weekend's Formula 1 race! Go McLaren!

Wow - what a room! Loved seeing both pianos; I grew up learning on a Kranich & Bach (with a cracked soundboard!). It was watching my parents sell their grand when they moved into smaller quarters that made me decide to purchase an upright for my own use as a retirement house isn't all that far off...

Great to see you made it out there in good shape!

Miss Mouse,

I knew that K&B well. (I spent lots of time at it with MM's father, who was my voice prof. in school)

JPM,

Great rooms and beautiful pianos!

MM, KS, teachum, & Rich ... thanks for your comments on the piano room.

Miss Mouse, this K&B also has several cracks in the SB in addition to other problems. It would be great to hear a rebuilt K&B to get an idea of the music-making potential of these pianos. This particular piano seems to have sweet voice despite its poor condition.

So, what's up with Catlady? No follow-up post? No PM? See ... just move to a new state and see how quickly they forget!

JP

Rich - saw my folks the other day. My Dad always has good things to say about you and also your voice. Greetings from them! (Sorry, JPM, for what probably should have been a PM!)

JPM - I love your pianos.. and also the piece of art - the woman holding the peacock feather.. Is that a fabric piece or a painting?

3 days from Virginia to New Mexico. What did you do, go through Latvia??? just joking

apple,

That is a piece my mom did. It is fabric mounted on a picture frame my dad made. The profile of the woman's face is pen & ink on fabric. The dress is a quilt-like affair but without the fancy stitching you see in some older hand-made quilts. The piece complements a large quilt my great grandmother made that is the centerpiece of the room but not pictured in the photos.

Acoustically, I think the piece's position helps reduce the boominess of the bass, absorbing some of the sound that would otherwise reflect off the north wall. I think the shudders help too by deflecting some of the sound towards the rug under the piano. (A boomy bass was a problem for me in the VA house.) The wall opposite the Bechstein (the one behind the hutch) is also fabric. I believe it helps the room's acoustics too.

apple, most of the art work in the house is my mom's. The interior decorating reflects her style and taste. She re-did most house when my parents bought it in the '70s. Perhaps it now looks a bit dated but I am very comfortable here. It feels like home.

Tom, we were driving a fully-loaded 16 foot truck that was towing a full car carrier. About the best we could do was 60-65 mph.

JP

JPM,

I am pleased to see you made your move with no great difficulties. You have such a charming and elegant home! With two pianos! Now all you need to do is enjoy.

Wow! Beautiful pianos, beautiful room. Are you able (set up and partner) to play two piano pieces?

That quilty pieces looks very Klimty. What a talented mother you have.

Thanks, FM and kathy for your comments. Sorry for not responding sooner. I was out of town for a couple of days.

kathy, after the K&B is rebuilt it will be good for 4-hand, 2-piano pieces. Right now the piano is in pretty sad shape. Needs a complete rebuild to include SB.

Gustav Klimt's work probably influenced her to some degree. She liked him a lot. Certain details in her her piece remind me of his painting, The Kiss.

JP

JPM,
I have been in California for two weeks and I didn't know that you had moved back to "God's Country". Are you in Albuquerque? The rooms and pianos are beautiful! Your Bechstein has really been a world traveler!

JPM:

Wait a minute - you have TWO pianos? You're living MY DREAM!

You are ONE VERY LUCKY PERSON!

Jeanne W

Rick, I retire from the Army on 1 August. I moved back to New Mexico into our family home. Been here about 3 weeks. Please let me know when you plan on being in Roswell or just passing through. I'd love for you to come by the house and take the Bechster for a spin.

Jeanne, right now I would say I have one nice piano and one nice piece of furniture. Once the K&B is rebuilt, we will have two nice pianos (I hope). Yes, I am very lucky. I married the right gal, that's for sure. She encourages me to pursue my passions.

JP

Best wishes in your retirement and thank you for serving.

JPM.,
Okay, I saw that you mentioned Roswell and the UFO stuff but I thought you were just passing thru in your move. You had talked about going back to Germany at one point and that also confused me ( it doesn't take much!). I did drive through Roswell about 2 years ago. Don't know when I will be going back, though.
For the rest of you, JPM is such a gentleman and so kind. I was apprehensive about driving in Holland and Germany last summer. Jim sent me a big package of maps, instructional rules of the road and a CD ROM which were very helpful. You, my friend, are one of the class acts of PW Forum!
As stated before, thank you for your service and we all wish you the best!

JPM: beautiful pianos you have and also a beautiful house! I bet it's a nice living overthere... Especially with 2 awesome pianos!

xire :

Please don't resurrect "dead" threads!

I'm sorry, I didn't notice it!

People that own a Bechstein have perfect reasons to *disappear*.

For a while.......

Norbert