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Robert Hicks Harpsichords


Information on the instruments I build

 

Maintenance-general principles and specific techniques
 
Completed  Instruments
 
 

Refurbishing and Upgrading


       If you were to ask what the future of harpsichord making is in the United States, one answer might be that it has already been done. It’s the instruments we’ve been building since the 1970s, refurbished and upgraded.  All harpsichords include parts that have specific lifetimes – plectra and strings; sometimes jacks also.  And actions from several decades ago were not as sensitive as we’ve learned to make since. Good instruments may be hidden underneath awkward actions – we learned about building instruments before we learned about actions.

       Refurbishing an instrument requires an ability to read the instrument, its design, its builder’s understanding of the design, and then to follow through on the nature of the instrument itself. It’s easy to impose on an instrument, and it’s easy to produce a compromised, Franciolini’d instrument – it’s easy to make a mess. And I should state clearly that if the builder is available, he has the prerogative to do work of this magnitude. An owner should offer the work to the builder first, and the technician, if called on, should have a discussion with the builder. This is professional ethics, and it’s a service to the owner, as unauthorized work obviates a builder’s responsibility to the instrument.

       Ordinarily I ask to have the instrument for a month.  I do this work in the summer, mid-May to October, since my living room (a good voicing room) becomes too dry in the heating season. There’s about a six-month waiting period with my jack maker, Norm Purdy, so work should be scheduled the better part of a year in advance.

       Many of my fees are flat rates, which cover the ordinary difficulties encountered.  Here are some numbers:

       Revoicing - $800 per rank.

       New wooden jacks - $7 each.

       New registers - $300 per pair (one pair, upper & lower, per rank).

       Restringing - $600 per choir.

       Extraordinary difficulties are billed at my shop time of $60 per hour, and the owner is contacted before I go ahead. When the jacks are ordered I ask for a $1000 down payment, non-refundable except under extreme circumstances: it’s to cover the jacks.

       I won’t put new plectra into plastic jacks that are more than twenty years old – the voicing will last longer than the jacks, and it’s money thrown away.  I voice in delrin or birdquill (Canada goose), and am reluctant to use celcon save when very light voicing is appropriate (which it rarely is).  I’m also reluctant to put in new plastic jacks: they don’t last as long as wooden ones, all the designs have some detail or other against them, and if an instrument is worthy of upgrading, it’s worthy of wooden jacks.  I can voice to old strings, but strings tend to harden in about 30 years, and we now have a variety of good wire to choose from.

       Major woodworking repairs I tend not to get involved in. A displaced pinblock, significant cheek distortion, delaminated joints, and the like, will suggest the instrument isn’t worth refurbishing. Accidental damage should go back to the builder for continuity with the original workmanship. Small matters like a few soundboard splits or a tail hitchpinrail in need of replacement I’m willing to do. And of course, there are some instruments I consider beyond me, like the revival production instruments.

       Vermont is a pleasant place to visit, and you’re invited to bring your instrument here. But I won’t charge pickup and delivery if I can do the round-trip in a comfortable day (about 400 miles maximum). Beyond that, I charge $150 per day for travel.


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Robert Hicks Harpsichords
314 Hall Road, Lincoln, Vermont. 05443
802 453 3996...
rh@hicksharpsichords.com