Rhodes Pre-Pianoowner: Fred DiLeone
This is a 1946-48 Rhodes Pre-Piano that I was lucky enough to find on Ebay. It was in pretty rough condition. The wood shell was full of scratches and was coming apart, the keys were chipped, and it was so far out of adjustment that it would not play. I completely disassembled everything and got to work. I cleaned and adjusted all internal components, polished the original sharps, and with a little help from the guys at CT Piano Repair, I re-capped the naturals.
I sent the woodwork to my friend at Lyric Hall Antiques in New Haven, where John and his team glued it up and restored the original finish with a "French Polish" technique incorporating an additional 35 coats of shellac. And here she is! I haven't seen another yet with its cool tripod legs, and it answers the question I've been asking for quite some time...what would it sound like if you built a piano using mantel clock tines as the tone source? Beautiful, if not a little eerie!
|
|
