Shaw Piano (IW# 91)

This one is made from Shaw Piano number 13837, which was made in 1900 right before the factory moved from Erie, Pennsylvania to Baltimore, Maryland.  This piano was in Wilkes-Barre, and the story that I heard about it is that Wilkes-Barre used to flood relatively regularly.  So teams of young men would go door to door during the flood to carry the pianos up to the second story until the flood waters receded.  Having moved this piano only a few feet I can tell you that I sure would not want any part of moving it upstairs!  It's a beast.

This piano had the widest conglomeration of woods that I have yet encountered.  Mostly poplar, it also had walnut and red oak elements, which so far has been unusual, in my experience.  The poplar was a dream to work with, and it was clearly from an old, slow-growing tree.  It was super dense, and heavy.  If it did not have the requisite green color I would have questioned the species it was so heavy.

The person who will own this guitar is a guitar player and plays six string, so this is my first foray into making a six string instrument.  Interesting.  The neck is a little beefier than I would like, one thing I learned here is that a small amount of extra material makes a HUGE difference in how the instrument plays.

It's a parlor size guitar, taken from drawings of a 1900 parlor guitar.  I really like the tight waist and big lower bout, and it has a pretty good sound.  The hole in the front is a leftover from the piano, it reminds the player of the history of the material, and invites stories about the piano, the family it belonged to, and now the instrument itself.

The piano in situ.  It's BIG!

Lovely carving.

Interestingly, the pins do not go through the harp, but pass over it.

Here's how it sounds: