Off Topic 5 ft. by 2 ft. ONE PIECE flame maple!

[s6275]

Hi there,

I recently acquired a piano that is at least 75 years of age. It was made in England, and survived the bombing of London. It has plaster that fell from the ceiling inside still. It has a dark shellac finish (I think). It is BADLY out of tune, which is expected where bombings are concerned.

Since taking the piano, I hadn't really looked closely at it until moving it the other day to make room for a table.

It is an upright piano, and the large boards both above AND below the keyboard are fully 1 INCH thick, ONE PIECE, and show a beautiful, wide, straight flame on the front and back of both boards, leading me to assume that approximately 20-30 awesome guitar tops could be cut from these two boards.

What do you suppose the chances are that a certain guitar company might be interested?

 

[tommydude]

Please post a picture !!! I wanna see !!!

 

[beej]

Sounds like the piano has quite a history (my aunts still tell stories of living in London the blitz). Can it not be fixed up as a piano?

 

[s6275]

I have looked into that, and I am still waiting on an estimate. A few people I have spoken to used the words "custom made parts" more than once, and winced while saying it.

The piano belonged to my grandmother. My cousin and I play bass and guitar (respectively), and ideally, we had talked about having individual instruments made that we can play, and donating any additional proceeds from the sale of the boards to Alzheimer's research.

 

[ThatsAgood1jay]

I would really like to see this piano.

 

[s6275]

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Neat!

You may want to contact a local luthier and have him custom make you a body with that as the top over the wood of your choice.

I had never thought about that with pianos. I see pianos on craigslist all the time and laugh at them because they always seem to either be free or $35,000.

 

[cm_17]

Is that maple?

 

[s6275]

Umm...pretty sure?

 

[mojomkr]

This post is cool. My wife drags me into antique stores and she looks

at dressers, Armoir's,tables and such and I'm always thinking " Wow

this stuff would be cool converted into a nice guitar" 100 year old

wood turned into guitars...I wonder if there is a Market for that?

With all this recycling stuff going on, This could catch on and we

could be playing antiques....There is something to be said for old

wood guitars....Good luck with the Piano..I think it would be a nice

tribute to your family history to get something custom made.

 

[cm_17]

I always thought the "flame" goes perpendicular with the wood grain and thus the growth direction of the tree. That's why we don't often get one-piece flame tops but bookmatched pieces cut in half - trees are simply not that thick.

So if that's a flame maple board, the tree would have been, well, huge, and given the board some different structure too.

As much as I'd love to be wrong, I think that's another wood type.

 

[s6275]

I think it's maple.

 

[littlephil]

That doesnt look like flamed maple to me. Looks more like the grain of mahogany, but its hard to tell from the pics.
Also, are you sure those pieces are solid wood? There's a pretty good chance it could just be a veneer.

Here's a pic of some ribbon grained mahogany, looks pretty similar

EDIT:

I always thought the "flame" goes perpendicular with the wood grain and thus the growth direction of the tree. That's why we don't often get one-piece flame tops but bookmatched pieces cut in half - trees are simply not that thick.

It depends on where the wood came from, but you're right, flame is almost always perpendicular to the growth of the tree. It actually occurs because the tree cant support its own weight and starts to collapse onto itself, which creates the flame where the wood is compressed.

 

[Slingy]

That's right these old uprights can be hard to even give away, or they are very valueable. I tried to give one to a friend that is into antiques and he said no thanks.

 

[maciek]

It doesn't look like a flame maple to me too

 

[s6275]

It DOES look quite a bit like that mahogany. Thanks.

Now, I am quite sure the boards are solid...unless they veneered the backs of them.

 

[DrKev]

...unless they veneered the backs of them.

Well, they paid better attention to detail in the old days. Maybe it was an extra you could order with the piano, kinda like the matching headstock?