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Does anyone know approximately what year/decade/era that half gauges (13 1/2 etc) were first invented, when they came into first use, and when their use became universal?

Would a mid 1880's grand be likely or not to have half gauges?

Thanks!

They had half sizes from the time of the founding of Steinway and Chickering used them before that I think.

You mean specifically american pianos? Not every country used imperial gauge system, even in the 19th century, corresponding question for metric system would be: when wire with 25um diameter increments become available, I'm not a historian I'm only sure that it was used from the begining of the 20th century, but if I had to guess i would say 1860.

This is a fairly interesting question. The gauge used now is named for the American Steel and Wire Company which existed from about 1899 to 1962. But it probably comes from before then. I think I may have some more information in my collection of literature, maybe Spillane or Dolge, but it is late so I will look it some other time.

OK, it's kinda rare I get kinda, uh, semi-stumped, but...

Mid 1880's Mathushek square, original strings. Family heirloom with quite a bit of sentimental value, so owner not upgrading, but owner not rich either, so no full restoration happening either. Budget is what it is, so lots of cheating and shortcuts and stuff ignored to fit results into the cash available. Owner knows ALL that, no issues with less than 5-star work as it were. Given no other tech within 200 miles will even look at it, not worried about my (deliberately, cuz budget) lackluster workmanship being judged.

This is a TINY PETITE thing, like half the size of my Steinway square. I can lift up one end easily, and I'm no bodybuilder. 85 notes, low C to high C. Excruciatingly small soundboard, like, damn, where's the soundboard? OH, THERE IT IS. Longest bass string barely 60 inches, then they get shorter FAST. ALL the strings are noticeably short, like sub-spinet short. Tuning pins measured at somewhere around a #0, less than a #1. Surprisingly tight pins, so a set of standard #2's will probably be too tight on some.

Got to micrometering the old wires, and huh, what?

First off lots of rust and corrosion, so measurements I assume a bit on the high side. Even so, when I got to the high treble, even after cleaning the rust off to be sure, I found not one (original) wire to be less than a 14 1/2 gauge, even on high C. These strings are ALL super duper short.

Plain wires go far into the bass section, lowest wire is a 24! Just that one, then a 23, then a 22, then a 21, one note each of each gauge. Then it settles down into like a JILLION each of the whole gauges, no half sizes, until up in the high end where it peters out with a slew of 14 1/2s.

The strings are so short and grow longer going down so imperceptibly, I'm wondering if there IS any point in throwing some half gauges in there (outa habit mostly). And I assume that the super shortness of the stringing scale generally lends itself to having unusually thick wires across the piano.

The owner just wants improvement so she can get back to her Beethoven and Chopin, and there's 0% risk of her ever noticing any harmonic weirdness if'n I screw this up.

All the same, I'm allergic to screwing up on principle, so I'm all ears as to how to proceed.

Dupe the old scale, shift things to thinner wires, throw in some half gauges so there's not 15 notes at one gauge in a row, what?

This ain't going in a concert hall y'all, so ya all don't have to be all Adrian Monk about this.

:-)

My 1878 Bluthner has the gauges written on the plate. I'll look when I get home.

David,

Of course the question is, what wire maker was used, and what gauge scale did they use? If you still have the original wire on there it would need to be measured.

AOS,

What is the speaking length of note 85? If less than 53mm you can basically start with 12 1/2 up there and change half size every 4-6 unisons (with extra 17) and get an improvement over what is there.

Is there a possibility this was restrung once before? And they used whatever they had on hand?

Peter Grey Piano Doctor

What is the speaking length of note 85? If less than 53mm you can basically start with 12 1/2 up there and change half size every 4-6 unisons (with extra 17) and get an improvement over what is there.

Is there a possibility this was restrung once before? And they used whatever they had on hand?

Peter Grey Piano Doctor


***

Hello Peter!

Did not measure that. Piano is in Taos (1.5 hours 2 lane hwy) but can easily have owner measure it today and text me the length. Definitely original wires (century worth of rust!) and tuning pins (oblong between #0 and #1 diameter).

I'm thinking her Mathushek piano is the Colibri or Hummingbird model.

https://www.lindebladpiano.com/library/mathushek-piano-company

"The small “Colibri” piano was perhaps the most famous piano from the Mathushek Piano Company. The tone that came from the small Colibri was boasted to be richer and grander than many large square pianos at the time. Mathushek Piano Company also introduced the orchestral square pianos with a tone that many compared to a cello."

Pics:

https://antiquepianoshop.com/product/mathushek-colibri-model-victorian-square-grand-piano/

This piano is TINY. The tiniest square I have ever seen. As mentioned I can quite easily pick up one end, whereas I can't even budge my (massive) 1859 Steinway.

(When I walked in and saw it I just exclaimed "HOW CUTE!")

What's remarkable is that even though the soundboard is miniscule, it puts out way more volume than even seems possible.

I'll do exactly as you suggest (assuming note 85 length is less than 53mm).

Thank you!