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Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

  • 1.  Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-01-2018 20:21
      |   view attached
    Have any of you seen this type of Sohmer grand piano before?

    Paul.

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    Paul Brown, RPT
    President
    Piano Technicians Guild
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    Email: pres@ptg.org
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  • 2.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Posted 02-02-2018 08:12
    What's up with the screws and bolts in the capo bars? What do they do? What are they screwed to? Sure never seen one quite like that!

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    Terry Farrell
    Farrell Piano Service, Inc.
    Brandon, Florida
    terry@farrellpiano.com
    813-684-3505
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  • 3.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 20:11
    I restrung one of these in 1994 so some of the details are a bit fuzzy now.  According to my notes,  It was a 6'4" Sohmer grand dating from 1905, #31778, walnut veneer with some nice carving.  There was a steel rod that ran along the bottom of the capo d'astro and the bolts on top of the capo served to adjust the bearing in that section, which I did before the piano was brought up to full tension.  Sort of like the pressure bar on a vertical.  I seem to recall there was mention of a Sohmer patent for that somewhere on the plate.  Perhaps that's why I've never seen an other manufacturer try this.  It sounded great when I finished with it.  ​​

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    Cecil Snyder
    Torrance CA
    310-542-7108
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  • 4.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 20:54
    Cecil,

    Did you tune it to A440?

    Paul.

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    Paul Brown, RPT
    President
    Piano Technicians Guild
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    Email: pres@ptg.org
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-03-2018 01:59
    Paul,  
    To respond to your question.  After restringing, I usually starting out at 30 cents high (bass no more than 15 cents), letting let it fall to around 15 cents while tuning it every couple days for two weeks.  After this, and some work with the string hook and straight-mate to true and level everything up, it's usually stable enough for delivery.  This piano, which I tuned regularly for some years afterwards until the customer passed away and I lost track of it, held its pitch quite well.  

    Now that I think about it--I wish I'd taken some pictures at the time--the nuts at the top of the capo adjust an intermediary steel plate which supports the rod or half-round at the bottom (probably welded to it).   Once the bearing is adjusted properly, the nuts in the front of the capo lock this in place.

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    Cecil Snyder
    Torrance CA
    310-542-7108
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  • 6.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 11:21
    Yes, I remember seeing a few like that years ago, in New York.

    Jeannie Grassi, Registered Piano Technician
    Island Piano Service
    Bainbridge Island, WA
    206-842-3721




  • 7.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 12:51
    How does the thing sound?

    I've never seen one quite like that.

    Pwg

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    Peter Grey
    Stratham NH
    603-686-2395
    pianodoctor57@gmail.com
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  • 8.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Member
    Posted 02-02-2018 14:30
    Paul.. how old is this piano ? Maybe it was some type of experiment  or there was an attachment /accessory put in the piano. It sure looks strange . Could it have been a way to sling the plate during construction or rebuilding ?

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    James Kelly
    Pawleys Island SC
    843-325-4357
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  • 9.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Member
    Posted 02-02-2018 14:33
    It looks like little arches on the plate strut bottom for the strings to go through

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    James Kelly
    Pawleys Island SC
    843-325-4357
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  • 10.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Posted 02-02-2018 14:38
    A brass insert in the capo to continue the timbre of the agraffes up the scale.





  • 11.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 18:22
    I don't know what year it was made - yet.
    It sounds awful because it hasn't been tuned in some time.

    I just started to tune it when I noticed a problem.

    Some of the pins are very tight and I became immediately concerned. Currently the piano is about A434.

    When I lowered the pins on a few bass wires, I heard loud PINGS! and the pins long-jumped flat. Bringing the wires back up was scary because of the tightness of the tuning pins. I'm due back to try and tune it in a couple of weeks.

    I will update this group at that time.

    Paul.

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    Paul Brown, RPT
    President
    Piano Technicians Guild
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    Email: pres@ptg.org
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-19-2018 18:16
    Well,

    The tuning wasn't that difficult after all. Some of the pins were very jumpy but most of them tuned just fine.I went over it a few times, and the feel of the pins got better each time. I just think it was neglected for a long time.

    The piano serial number is 23771 placing it just before 1900.

    It needs to be done again in a few months - it was at A434 but is now at A440.

    Paul.

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    Paul Brown, RPT
    President
    Piano Technicians Guild
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    Email: pres@ptg.org
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 16:30
      |   view attached
    You may be interested in this cupid model Sohmer grand I tuned once.





  • 14.  RE: Rebuilt Old Sohmer Grand

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 02-02-2018 16:39
    Sorry most photos didn't come through. I'll try again.