Edinburgh Newtown

Ruaraidh has a Carl Ecke (Berlin,1909) tiny 58 inch weird-shaped – cocked hat – grand.  It was wildly out of tune BUT desperately needs restringing so I brought it to concert pitch very gingerly hoping to avoid further breakage. The piano, formerly unplayable, landed at 8 on a scale of 1-10, but playable. Ruaraidh, of ticktockmedia.co.uk and gourmet chef, provided lunch and Search Engine Optimisation in barter so no money changed hands, but Ruaraidh took the Underwater Piano Shop from 20th or 30th, well off the first page of Google, to #1 when you search for a piano tuner in Edinburgh.

Strings: missing one bass, several replaced bass and two treble wires, a missing crucial low B broken bass string candidate for tying a knot with a new wire leader, HOWEVER my fat wire gauges are still in NYC thus, alas, could not knot.  I must return with some borrowed wire later.

Belly: soundboard, bridges: excellent. pin block: several loose pins, removed one offensive bass pin and daubed superglue on it and drove it back in with excellent results.

Action: innovative but excellent German invention.  Wippens are basically upside-down with the repetition spring exposed on top.

Plan: return with 21 gauge wire to tie low B; superglue the few other offending tuning pins; hope Ruaraidh’s landlord, the piano’s owner, will have  Wilson and Sons, piano rebuilders of Wallyford, restring the piano. Pending restringing: tune occasionally or when another string breaks.