Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Segerstrom Piano

I am finally attacking the upright piano in our basement. I researched a little bit on how to take apart such a beast and thought, oh well what have I got to lose? So I grabbed some tools, a bucket of bleach water (to clean up mildew and who-knows-what), and the sweeper hose (for the who-knows-what).

I did some research on the Segerstrom piano (there is very little info on the web about this company) and discovered it has no real value. The company began in 1912 and went bankrupt by 1914!


It wasn't difficult and in about one hour I had it down to this:

Now comes the hard part...everything I've read about taking apart a piano says BE CAREFUL with the strings! They are under a lot of tension and if cut could easily cause injury. So I'm trying to find the correct tool to loosen the nuts (or whatever they are called) thus relieving the tension and solving the whole DANGER problem. Once I get that harp out they I'll be finished with the dismantling and can then try to figure out what kind of desk I'd like.

So do you want to know the who-knows-what that I found?
-Pencils
-A plastic hair pin like was used for rollers in the 60's (at least I remember my mom and sister using them)
-A mouse nest with a mummified baby mouse
-A key
-Mildew
-And this letter:

It was written by Bob's now deceased aunt Alice who was in 6th grade at the time it was written on September 20, 1957. Apparently when she folded it to mail it, it slipped into the piano (she talks about how tired she is of her music lessons) and has been in there for over 50 years!! I can't WAIT to give this to Bob's mother!!!

I'll post more pictures as I keep working on this!

4 comments:

Brooke said...

This is uber cool! What fun finds! Especially the letter (but the mice must have been way up there too).

You know, i would have thought that a piano company only around for 2 years would have valuable pianos since there would not be thousands upon thousands in existence.

Deb said...

That's what I thought, too. There was so little information about this company on the web however; all that I did find just poo-pooed these pianos. So...recycle, reuse, repurpose!!!

Unknown said...

What did you end up doing with it? I'm at the same point in taking apart a piano. I want the harp as art but it's all soooooooooooo heavy!

Deb said...

Amy, I apologize for not replying to you much sooner!! My husband cut out the strings and cut the harp in two to get it out. I have the piano down to the bare wood now and will start working on restoring the finish. I have a carpenter friend who is going to build in shelves for me. I'll post pictures of the continued process after the first of the year.