Restoration and Maintenance

A large part of our work is in restoring and maintaining instruments from original to modern reproductions, not limited to just the harpsichord but just about any early keyboard instrument, be it a spinet, muselaar, clavichord, virginal, pleyel etc.. In restoring historical instruments we will obtain as much information as we can, from drawings and measurements, even from museums or institutions. Museums will often restore historic instruments with the help of a builder by using modern techniques to analyze the harpsichord's construction. Xrays are useful in identifying internal dimentions etc., and fiber optics can be employed to look through the rose into the innermost part of the instrument so that it need not be taken apart. Different instruments require different approaches.
Many of the aspects of maintaining an early keyboard instrument can be done by the owner, but at some stage the instrument will need to go to a professional workshop to address the more difficult and involved issues which invariably happen to all instruments over time. Our workshop is full equipped to deal with any issue that may arise, from the complex to the seemingly impossible. 
The most recent restorations carried out in our workshop have been of two french double manual instruments built in Boston in the mid 1970's. You can see some images of recent restorations on this page.
 
 

See also...

The Manufacturing Process

 

Construction of a harpsichord begins with selecting the wood based on the type of harpsichord witch has to be made. Different kinds of wood are used depending on the model and style, and they certainly affect the sound quality of the finished instrument.

The wood must be aged for...

The soundboards of seventeenth century Flemish and french harpsichords, spinets and virginals were frequently decorated with painted flora, fauna, and ornamental motifs. Such decoration is very specific to this part of the instrument.   ​The case, lid and stand ​vary widely according to period and origin, and even...

In our woorkshop we make many diferant types of stands and chairs, witch match the harpsishords from diferant styles.

If you have ideas about the design for your stand or chair,dont hesitate to contackt us,we will be happy to descuss it with you.