I completely agree with Philip Wilson that you MUST go see it and play it before making a decision. I suspect the one that Philip is talking about was poorly made, as they are definitely not all in such poor condition.
I would, however, at best offer extremely little money for it, and be prepared to put time into it.
Kind regards
AA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Wilson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, December 1, 2016 1:40:32 PM
Subject: Re: Burton Harpsichord
Hi Renee,
First, I am NO expert on this, but I do have very recent experience with a Burton 2x8, 1x4 single, which I believe was built from a kit back in the 70s or 80s. You can see some photos and some information about my taking it on as a non-playing instrument and making it playable again at: https://www.facebook.com/PKWHarpsichords/
Some thoughts now that that process is done:
1) Tuning stability was terrible, the 4' is out of tune within hours, the 8' stops within a few days. I am spoiled by Italian harpsichords I have made which barely lose their tuning at all.
2) The jacks are awful, having the plectrum and the spring molded as a unit with the tongues. I was fortunate that the instrument I worked on came with a few extra tongues, and most of the jacks were still functioning. The molded in place tongue springs seem to weaken with age, though most were still working adequately.
3) The soundboard was badly bowed upward, causing some interference and buzzing between 4' bridge pins and 8' strings. Many of the 4' pins were excessively high (long), so I cut them down to fix this. Any harpsichord might have this soundboard bowing or sinking problem, so I am not blaming Burton in particular.
4) I intensely dislike threaded zither pins, especially when the stringer leaves ends sticking up for you to stab your fingers on. Ick.
5) Other problems had to do with the quality of the construction, always something to be wary of with a kit instrument.
6) The result was an adequate, but not very musical instrument. The back 8' sounded rather good for an old plywood, kit instrument, the rest of the instrument, not so much.
So if your funds are limited, and the price is VERY small, it may be worth your time to take in into your life but you will need some patience.
I know there are others on this list who will say never, never, never to a Burton. They can speak for themselves.
Good luck,
Philip Wilson
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versity of Iowa. For a brief summary of list commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask] saying HELP .
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