Fineline's brief included fitting a Kawai MP8 electronic grand piano into the shell of a classic instrument. The classic piano was shipped directly to Finelineís warehouse in Bristol from the factory in Japan with no keys or strings. Liaising closely with Muse backline technician Des Broadbery, Fineline's Dave Harris then took delivery of a Kawai MP8 electronic grand piano, which had to be fitted inside the original.
The grand piano was carefully inserted into Fineline's 5-axis router, where the key bay was machined into the correct shape to receive the MP8 keyboard. The MP8 was then stripped right down to its component parts and mounted correctly into the grand piano.
The piano's left hand side block was machined so the Pitch Bend and Modulation wheels could be installed - by which time the keys were virtually indistinguishable from those of the original grand piano. The MP8's sustain and damping pedals were also modified, keeping the original brass pedals of the grand piano.
The original lid was then removed, drawn and replaced with a 20mm thick acrylic version, again machined using Fineline's 5-axis router. The result was a clear lid exactly the same shape as the original. Inside, five slots were machined, complete with fabricated brackets to install 5 PixelLine LED battens.
(Jim Evans)
