Underdamping history

[askot]

I'm interested in an Erard piano made in Paris. The site www.pianos.co.uk gives the manufacturing year between 1826 and 1850. But the piano has an underdamping. Is it possible in that age of piano? Does anyone know when the underdamping was invented?

[Bill Kibby]

It depends which type of underdamper you mean. Is yours a grand? And what is the number? Although Hawkins made an underdamper upright around 1802, most british and european upright pianos were overdamper, some as recent as the 1950s. As for grands and squares, Broadwood made underdamper squares a couple of hundred years ago, and Erard and Broadwood were both making underdamper grands in the mid-1800s. As for "1826-1850", that is not giving a date at all! The early published numbers are not supported by Erards' archives. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/datem ... ianos.html

and the Reports page there.

[askot]

Thanks. It.s an upright piano. The serial number is 18 486 and the piano looks much same than a piano "19 Erard droit no. 25503" at http://fractales.inria.fr/~louchet/perso/erard.html but it has only one pedal.

Asko

[Bill Kibby]

Yes, they were often underdampers with one pedal. The published numbers suggest about 1846, but I do not have the amended information from their archives yet. I'll have a look at the picture.