Methodist Church Grand Piano Gets a New lease on Life
REFINISHING - RESTORING - REBUILDING
Ken's Piano
Sales and Service
Sales and Service
When the 50 pound chunk of plaster dropped from a
40 foot ceiling in the First Methodist Church early one morning in September, a grand piano broke its fall.
Clarence Dudley, the church historian who oversees the musical instruments, said two things needed to be done. The ceiling had to be repaired and the piano had to be restored.
The accident was the last straw for the old piano, after 88 years of normal wear and tear. Pastor Jim Frisbee said, over time, plants were set on top of the piano and there were water spots, too.
"You can't help it -- both in terms of the playing of it and the fact that it's out there and sometimes in the way of other things going on." Frisbee said. "so it gets kind of taken for granted".
Fortunately, though the skill and artistry of local piano technician Ken Davis, the old instrument now has a new lease on life. And it's getting a lot of respect these days.
"Ken did a beautiful job restoring it, both in terms of wood finish and also in terms of the musicality of it,"
Frisbee said. "The piano plays better, it sounds better than it ever has, and it's just incredibly beautiful.
But when Davis first saw it, he said it looked pretty sad. Plaster had landed on the music desk (the part that holds the music sheet), had broken through to the strings and was all over the sound board. He said the ornate piano was built in 1913, and there's nothing available today to match its African mahogany.
"So what I attempted to do was put the fibers back where they came from, those that were available," Davis said." And those that weren't, I had to replace with a filler and then just match it up the best I could as far as blending, because nothing would look good on that piano except that music desk." The plaster accident seems to have been age-related Davis said the restoration job was like fixing a small dent in a car, having to finish that entire part to blend in with the rest of it. So the decision was made to refinish the entire piano instead of piecemeal. The next step was to take the piano outdoors and use forced air to remove all the plaster.
It took five men to move the 1000 pound piano to Davis's shop, after which he totally stripped it down and did a lot of sanding and filling.
Davis mixed a stain to match the original, cleaned and polished all the hardware, repaired cracks in the sound board and put in a new key bed.
40 foot ceiling in the First Methodist Church early one morning in September, a grand piano broke its fall.
Clarence Dudley, the church historian who oversees the musical instruments, said two things needed to be done. The ceiling had to be repaired and the piano had to be restored.
The accident was the last straw for the old piano, after 88 years of normal wear and tear. Pastor Jim Frisbee said, over time, plants were set on top of the piano and there were water spots, too.
"You can't help it -- both in terms of the playing of it and the fact that it's out there and sometimes in the way of other things going on." Frisbee said. "so it gets kind of taken for granted".
Fortunately, though the skill and artistry of local piano technician Ken Davis, the old instrument now has a new lease on life. And it's getting a lot of respect these days.
"Ken did a beautiful job restoring it, both in terms of wood finish and also in terms of the musicality of it,"
Frisbee said. "The piano plays better, it sounds better than it ever has, and it's just incredibly beautiful.
But when Davis first saw it, he said it looked pretty sad. Plaster had landed on the music desk (the part that holds the music sheet), had broken through to the strings and was all over the sound board. He said the ornate piano was built in 1913, and there's nothing available today to match its African mahogany.
"So what I attempted to do was put the fibers back where they came from, those that were available," Davis said." And those that weren't, I had to replace with a filler and then just match it up the best I could as far as blending, because nothing would look good on that piano except that music desk." The plaster accident seems to have been age-related Davis said the restoration job was like fixing a small dent in a car, having to finish that entire part to blend in with the rest of it. So the decision was made to refinish the entire piano instead of piecemeal. The next step was to take the piano outdoors and use forced air to remove all the plaster.
It took five men to move the 1000 pound piano to Davis's shop, after which he totally stripped it down and did a lot of sanding and filling.
Davis mixed a stain to match the original, cleaned and polished all the hardware, repaired cracks in the sound board and put in a new key bed.
He was able to save the original ivory, filling it down flush,
and he glossed all the sharps.
"I just made everything work like it was new so they could sit down and enjoy playing it, and all the keys are nice and firm and tight," he said. "unless you're a piano player, you don't really appreciate all of those things."
Sarah Benton, the church organist/pianist said, before the restoration, she thought the piano was ugly and hard to play. She had to pound on it, she recalled.
Now, all of that has changed. "I just can't believe it--it's like a new piano -- it's like there's a different piano in there," She explained. "I think the tone is brighter and it's just wonderful. It was a blessing in disguise.
Dudley said the 8-foot grand, built by the Starr Company of Indiana, has probably been in the sanctuary since 1917, when the church building was opened. According to a newspaper article, the piano was donated by "friends of the city".
He said the design of the piano is called "art case grand," and it features raised designs on the sides. The piano has 12 legs, solid brass casters and an elaborate framework supporting the pedal lyre.
Frisbee described the African mahogany as gorgeous, with almost a fluted grain, and said the color has a dark and ruddy nature. The lid is "book-matched," he said, which comes about when a slab of wood is split down the middle and the two halves
are opened like a book. The grain is like a reflection in the mirror from one side to the other.
"It's very valuable, both in terms of the artistry of the cabinet work and the way it's constructed, as well as its musical quality,"
he said. "It is both a showpiece and a very fine musical instrument."
"I just made everything work like it was new so they could sit down and enjoy playing it, and all the keys are nice and firm and tight," he said. "unless you're a piano player, you don't really appreciate all of those things."
Sarah Benton, the church organist/pianist said, before the restoration, she thought the piano was ugly and hard to play. She had to pound on it, she recalled.
Now, all of that has changed. "I just can't believe it--it's like a new piano -- it's like there's a different piano in there," She explained. "I think the tone is brighter and it's just wonderful. It was a blessing in disguise.
Dudley said the 8-foot grand, built by the Starr Company of Indiana, has probably been in the sanctuary since 1917, when the church building was opened. According to a newspaper article, the piano was donated by "friends of the city".
He said the design of the piano is called "art case grand," and it features raised designs on the sides. The piano has 12 legs, solid brass casters and an elaborate framework supporting the pedal lyre.
Frisbee described the African mahogany as gorgeous, with almost a fluted grain, and said the color has a dark and ruddy nature. The lid is "book-matched," he said, which comes about when a slab of wood is split down the middle and the two halves
are opened like a book. The grain is like a reflection in the mirror from one side to the other.
"It's very valuable, both in terms of the artistry of the cabinet work and the way it's constructed, as well as its musical quality,"
he said. "It is both a showpiece and a very fine musical instrument."