We at the U. of Kentucky have been gifted a 1914 Sohmer grand (with bridge agraffes!)
It was rebuilt, sort of, a few years ago. This rebuilding consisted of refinishing, a new pinblock, strings, soundboard shimming, and new hammer heads that are too heavy and make the piano borderline unplayable. All action parts look to be original (except hammer heads). They didn't even rebush keys or replace damper felt!
I measure the action ratio on C4 to be 6.0. Knuckle distance is 17mm but the measurement from wippen flange to jack flange is...97mm. I would like to rebuild the action with new parts and light hammers, keeping the existing ratio.
My question is: can such a wip be obtained nowadays or am I looking at refurbishing the existing ones?
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John Pope
University of Kentucky School of Music
Lexington, KY
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