John Brinsmead grand

[jcgrassi]

Hello from the other side of the pond. I've a client with a 6 ft.8 in. John Brinsmead & Son grand ca. 1880. It is straight strung and has tuning pins horizontally mounted through the plate. I am having trouble removing the action because it gets stuck when it is half way out, binding in the to board where a wrest plank usually is. Do these boards often warp or sag? I'm afraid to pry it out for fear of damaging something. I am not familiar enough with this sort of action. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks much,
jeannie grassi

[Bill Kibby]

These are known as "Top-Tuners" because the upright version is tuned on top, instead of at the front. Warping like this is not that uncommon in Victorian grands, I don't know of any particular problem with top-tuners. It is a worry, and the customer needs to understand that if you attempt to remove the action, it could snap off some of the hammer heads. I don't have any simple answers, except to find ways to pull the action very straight, without pressing keys, but then you'd know that anyway.

[jcgrassi]

Hi Bill,
Thanks so much for responding. I did tell my client that if I forced the action something might break, however, it wouldn't be hammers that broke off, it was the flanges or some other part which were binding. The action never made it out far enough for the hammers to make contact, so they were not involved yet. However, if I had gotten it out that far they might also be vulnerable.

I neglected to check and see if there were glide bolts under the action. Do you know if this is usually the case? If so, I might be able to raise them up and thus lower the top of the action just enough to clear. This would be a good thing to know. Thanks again for any future help.
jeannie

[Bill Kibby]

I think glide bolts are a bit to modern for this animal!