Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Finished! Art Deco Piano Surround . . .

Well, I bought this art deco stool to go with my piano, which it does. But to take it a stage further, I thought I`d make a surround to suit the stool. A bit reminiscent of the old Eavestaff mini-pianos which were popular, and sounded . . . not good imo! This surround will fit a variety of slab type digitals (the DGX is bigger than most) so, supposing it doesn`t drop to bits too soon, it can grow old with me.

So far, so good. Screws used only to attach frame to ends; the rest is bonded with a proprietary impact adhesive. UHU if anybody knows the stuff. Smells wonderful . . .







Now I gotta work out the best option for the music stand. . .

Very nice! I am interested in seeing what you do with the music stand.

I'm waiting on the music stand to decide if I'm having flash backs or not.

Seriously....Nice to have color. Cheery...

Will you be staining it and varnishing?

One of the things I've always loved about my upright is it's looks - art deco styling, plus a deep veneer finish on it.

And I know the Kemble Minx has some compromises that can affect the action, but I always found it find - if a little on the heavy side, but I always enjoyed the sound.

I quite like the idea of a minimalist, generic, yet compact wooden frame / surround for housing a slab digital piano.

Yes; I`ll probably be staining and varnishing to suit the stool. With my dubious production methods, it`s gone up very quickly indeed; I`ve sorted out the plans for the music stand too. It`ll be integral with the sloping front (everyone knows sloping front pianos sound darned good) of the casing; and should be strong enough without additional support. . . .The Wise and Wonderful one is quite impressed and is satisfied I`m not gonna paint it red . . .

It`ll take an RD800 if I move in that direction eventually. They`ll have to put a man on the moon first . .

Here`s the nearly finished product. . . .





The lid raises like on some digitals these days. The tone is not greatly affected by the surround; I wacked up the volume to try it out; Wonderful for a small room!

thats really cool man, i like it! almost makes me regret buying a cabinet style DP lol. would love to have done this when i still had the P-155!

Great work!

That looks great! Enjoy!!

Wow! Awesome!

I love this sort of thing - wish I had the woodworking skills, and the time.

Just one question - can you still get at all the buttons / switches on the digital piano?

Very nice!

Cathy

Nice work, Pete. Looks genuinely retro.

Pete, I wasn't so keen on the earlier work-in-progress pics, but I have to say this is very impressive - great job!

And you say the onboard speakers aren't too badly muffled by the wooden enclosure?

Cheers,
James
x

Great job! Looks professionally done...awesome you can do that yourself.

Hubby acquired an old upright that isn't worth salvaging as a piano itself, but it looks like it will fit the MP11 in there with enough room to adjust the buttons. Of course, this project comes AFTER we get out kitchen back.

What a great job!! Very professional looking!

That's real nice. It does impress me as looking like an organ. I understand matching shape with the stool though. But then...maybe you want to play Phantom of The Opera in the middle of the night?

Looks great. Now, when/if you update keyboards, you can just slide in the new unit, and keep your nice furniture.

I think the stool came from an Eavestaff mini piano originally, hence the rounded bits; access to the controls are through a removable panel (which requires a suitable brass handle) in the middle, just below the music stand. There will be a strip light inside to illuminate everything.
The lid does give it a "top end" lift when raised, but I doubt I will be using this feature. It sounds better down.
The project was inspired by elderly Digital piano casings like those found on the CLP 880 and 611 which either fetch crazy prices or simply don`t get sold. My woodworking skills are minimal, my measuring and cutting skills abysmal; it is very lightweight and just slips over the front easily.
Now I have to stop it wobbling. Vintage pianos do not wobble.
A front panel below the keyboard will achieve that. Dammit, just when I thought I`d finished . . . .

S p e c t a c u l a r ! ! !

Paolo

Wow Pete looks great for sure! You are a man of many talents; pianist, artisan, philosopher, and a comedian.