Ye Olde Fashioned Ivory Job

Well this monster took me for what seemed like an eternity to finish, but it was finally completed at the end of July, 2011. It is a custom-designed new keyboard that I made on the restored original frame for a 1912 Hamburg Steinway model A that is going into a L.A. music producer's private recording studio. The real triumph for me on this one is that at the end, I crafted the natural keytops out of genuine ivory. This was the first time that I had ever tried to do this myself, and it involved a tremendous amount of planning ahead, consulting with other artisans, acquiring and even inventing equipment, and careful experimentation. After days of sanding, buffing, filing, screaming, yelling, drinking heavily and shaking my fist at the sky, I can finally say that I'm happy with how they look and feel.