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Greetings!

I have had a potential customer ask me to get his old piano back in playing shape for him. He sent me some pictures. The problem is it is I guess what you call a "birdcage" action and is straight strung. I have never had any experience working on a piano like this. What are the things I should be concerned about. It seems like I remember reading somewhere that these things won't stay in tune. Any advice out there from any of you have worked on them? I've never shied away from old clunker pianos, in fact I enjoy working them, but I'm afraid this one may be a little more than I can handle.

Always worth a look, Ryan. But be sure to inspect the instrument before turning any pins. Frame solid? Soundboard intact? Ribs, backposts, etc? These pianos are all in the 100+ range and should be checked for structural soundness before 'digging in' to tuning 'em.

They DO work...it's just rare to find one that can be 'serviced' and not require rebuilding/restringing.

The overdamper system can limit your access to the strings in some places, but I use long narrow rubber mutes rather than the plastic 'Papp's' mute that some favor.

Many of these have a capstan screw hiding under a pad at the end of the key. Others use the rocker capstans; loosen the far one (closest to action) and tighten the closer (nearest you) to rock the capstan and raise the rear to adjust lost motion. A little practice, they are easy enough to deal with. Your goal is to have both screws snug. The finer adjustment is on the back screw, once you get it in range. Don't crush the rocker by trying to move one screw tooo much, ok?

Birdcage issues have more to do with access than real difficulty in service. They use the same flanges, the same pins, the same general construction and geometry...just that funky overdamper system getting in your way at every turn!

Almost always a wooden action frame held at the ends by a pivoting hinge. Almost always the bridle tapes are shot. But....this can all be dealt with...with a little (ok, a LOT) of patience.

Don't fear the birdcage!
But, don't make promises you can't keep either!

Smiling,
I am,

Just thinking:
I wonder if an old birdcage can be retrofitted with the WNG action.
It might be cheaper that trying to revive the existing if it could be done.

The customer has sent me some pictures. The piano is a "Rudolmeyer Upright Iron Grand" The serial number is 20132. I cannot find info in my Piano Atlas book regarding the age of this piano. Even a quick search online did not turn up anything either.

It appears that some work has been done on the piano in the past. The keytops have been replaced. Also, judging from the picture, the bass strings appear to be copper wound. It'm guessing the piano is from the mid to late 1800's would copper wound wire have been used then?

If I can figure out how, I will post the pictures here.

Ok, here are some pictures.

I wouldn't touch that Ryan -- it's a sliding escapement action that looks to be very damp. Far too poor much work needed to even make it playable.The centres look tight, the loops are most likely breaking, and they are horrible to work on even in good condition.

Looking more closely at the photos, it also seems to have damage caused by mice and moths. I really doubt this can be salvaged and best left alone.

The cabinet might be a nice case for a digital piano.... I agree with Johnkie, It's too wet to salvage.

Same as what Johnkie said , Personally i woudnt bother either, it will break your heart trying to do anything with that piano.

Come to find out, the guy just saw the piano in an antique shop, but had not purchased it yet. I told him I would advise passing on this one. He agreed and is going to look for something else. It is a shame because the case is beautiful. It's hard to accept that you can't save them all.

Come to find out, the guy just saw the piano in an antique shop, but had not purchased it yet. I told him I would advise passing on this one. He agreed and is going to look for something else. It is a shame because the case is beautiful. It's hard to accept that you can't save them all.

I recently dove into a birdcage upright that has been worth working on; it has a lot of the features that Jeff mentioned looking for, including a full plate. And, the damper action is easily removed for tuning access.

This one? You were definitely correct to recommend to pass on it. I've thrown better ones in the landfill.

OperaTenor,

I am repairing a 129 yesrs old A. Bord.

It's a french bird-cage piano. I want to replace the hammers which are badly worn out. Do you happen to know were I can get
replacements for these hammers?

Rafael, sorry, but I don't know.

I wonder if David Boyce or rxd might have a source.

Never mind.

A fine technician who used to post here has already sent me an email.

Thank you anyway for answering my question.

Several years ago I ordered a set of very small hammers for a 1850s straight strung birdcage. They looked about the same as yours. My local supplier managed to source them from Abel.

Yours don't look that bad. Can they be salvaged and re-shaped? Maybe leather-cover just the very top notes if worn through?

Yes. This is a Anton Bord straightstrung piano, with no full plate. Only a half plate with two struts.

As you can appreciate on the pictures the hammers were shaped unevenly and now I think it will be hard to reshape them correctly without removing too much felt.

This is a french piano and I have found a refelter in France who has very good references.

With respect to the "Rudolmeyer" 'Upright Iron Grand': Don't touch it unless the client agrees that his next car will be a 1976 Ford Fiesta basic model bought from a scrapyard and which he agrees to have fully restored.

I mean, come on!

People need to appreciate that the English piano trade of this period (1880s to just pre world war one) churned out hundreds of thousands of cheapo pianos for the 'lower middle class' parlour. Such pianos, at the budget and of the market, were cheap and nasty when brand new. The only redeeming (and disguising) feature was that nice hardwood veneers and the skills to work with them were cheap then, so the pianos LOOKED nice, even though they were horrid.

Almost any piano that says Upright Iron Grand was junk when it came out the factory. (An exception being the Steinway Vertegrand, a different beast altogether and one of the best uprights ever made).

Birdcage pianos continued to be made for the budget end of the UK market right up until the mid 1950s, and some of them are semi-respectable still. But anything that says Upright Iron Grand is junk, always was, and is now 130 year old junk. In addition, the one shown is a spring and loop action. They never feel good in my experience, and are all now terribly worn and brittle. I have loop springs for them, and rather enjoy fitting them, but nowadays I almost never agree to work on spring & loop "Upright Iron Grand" pianos - it's hardly ethical.

Check out the Birdcage Pianos page of my site for more info on the beasts. http://www.davidboyce.co.uk/birdcage-pianos.php

don't touch that one ryan. is has problems...

Josh, this thread was last commented on back in April 2015. Why resurrect it now?