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How do technicians measure loss of crown? It is not discussed in great detail in my materials. I have been offered a 1928 Chickering 5'8" grand for free. It is meant to be a learning project and possibly a personal piano. It has a crack in the soundboard so I'd like to see what I'm dealing with. Any other suggestions in restoring Chickering parts is welcomed.

Greetings,
The most accurate way to measure crown is to stretch a string between two ribs,underneath the board. Tape both ends up against the board and see if the string has a gap between it and the board. I personally like to use white leader tape because it is easy to see a gap between it and the board. If I need an exact measurement, it is easy to slide various blades from a feeler gauge between the tape and the board until you see a slight bump in the tape.

That said, it has been my experience that Chickerings tend to hold their crown better than most.
Regards,

Ed gives good advice. Many Chickerings have flat-sawn bridges and this wood grain orientation leads to splitting and cracking. Weak bridges greatly damage tone quality. Also, some Chickerings have excessively overhanging treble bridges and this hurts the clarity of the tone.

Not sure when the switch occurred but older Chickerings used laminated flat-sawn maple pinblocks and they don't hold up as well as the laminated quarter-sawn maple. The Rochester made Chickerings had quartered pin-block wood.

Are you looking for a rebuilder?

You have gotten good responses, but I think the real question is why do you want to measure crown and what will you do with that measurement if you get it?

In my experience measuring crown may be somewhat interesting, but meaningless in a practical sense. If the piano sounds good, it is good. If it sounds bad, it isn't. Pianos showing crown can sound bad and pianos with minimal crown can sound good.

So, just because there's crown doesn't mean that the soundboard shouldn't be replaced. Conversely, if SB replacement isn't in you budget, there are strategies to get reasonable tone even if there is minimal crown.

Ed M.,

A)What do I look for in a treble that has excessive over hang? Not sure what that means honestly.

B)How do I determine if this Chickering is made in Rochester or Boston?

I'm looking to practice repairing/restoring work in pianos. I'm one year into taking Randy Potter course. Maybe it would be of some benefit to hire a rebuilder to give their opinion on what needs to be done?

I am inexperienced in judging what " really " sounds like a good Chickering piano. I may think it sounds good, but how can I be sure that it IS a good piano? In otherworse I was hoping to use this measurement of the SB to reinforce my opinion. To make sure that I do not have a total lemon on my hands.

There aren't any rebuilders in the Cincinnati area anymore, so that cuts my apprenticeship opportunities down.

This is a free piano, so what do you have to lose? Look it over for any obvious problem that is beyond your ability to repair well. Deal breakers would be broken or missing parts that you cannot replace, or not staying in tune. Decide how much is worthwhile doing, and do that. The experience will serve you well.

I was given a Steinway S last year. I looked what rebuilt Steinways were selling for around here and decided that it was not worth my while to rebuild it, figuring if I put $10,000 into it, I would make about the same profit. So I fixed a few things on it and consigned it, making about as much as if I had rebuilt it, but without having to tie up my time, space, or money.

The sad fact is that with so many decent pianos available new, rebuilding on speculation is not a winning proposition for anyone without a lot of experience and reputation. So do this to learn. If you need to sell the piano, sell it to someone who can use it as you leave it, with the understanding that it may need more work eventually.

Just avoid doing any work poorly. If you cannot hang hammers, replace keytops, restring neatly or any other job like that, get someone else to do it if it needs doing, or leave it for the new owner to arrange to have done.