Rebuilder's Gallery Pianos

[Absolute Piano]

Hi list,

It's been a busy week catching up after the convention but there are so many 
thoughts I wish to convey.

First of all it was an honor to have my head on the same chopping block as 
Ron Overs, Dave and Judy Hughes, David Anderson, Dale and Dennis Erwin, Ron 
Nossamon, Chris and Karen R. and Chris H, and Shawn Hoar. Two highlights...

I spent a lot of midnight hours prepping the Steinway Style IV (as it 
arrived quite raw) and having the Gallery to myself to actually hear all the 
pianos in relative quiet was a treat and an incredible educational 
experience. Voicing in the killer octave..hmmm what did this guy do and how 
bout this one..yeah! I know it was almost impossible to hear in that room 
especially during the day and I only wish everyone could have compared the 
pianos in this relative quiet. Each piano was a gem in its own rite truly.

Another fun anecdote was seeing the "Two Rons" crawling under a 140 year old 
Steinway like two kids in a candy shop and finding much of their innovations 
validated. The question remains, "What happened?" Tee hee...

I also want to thank all my fellow colleagues for their positive feedback 
and constructive criticism. I missed a bunch of you but saw some briefly in 
passing Capt. Joe, Ric Brekne, Fenton Murray, Terry Farell, Jolly Roger, 
Jurgen and Ulrich and the list goes on. Also great to see David Stanwood, 
Michael Morvin, Jon Page ( I love my tautlines), Tom Driscoll and many, many 
more. It's hard to believe we can talk about pianos this much. Anyway, I 
know I'm leaving names out but it was great to put names to faces and make 
so many new friends.

There have been other Rebuilder's Galleries at National PTG Conventions and 
regionals but never has it been set up in such a way as to showcase the 
piano and the rebuilder's techniques and for this forum we have to thank our 
friend Rick Florence.

I'm sure we'll see many other faces and even different pianos (I was 
originally planning to bring a Knabe) in years to come.

Now I've got this cocked hat I have to get back to. We'll be shoring up the 
beam strength, adding a bass cut-off and a fish and converting the topstack 
to a modern one. Wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean....

All the best,

Jude Reveley, RPT
Absolute Piano Restoration, LLC
Boston, Massachusetts