Cunningham tack piano

This was the childhood piano of WPRB radio legend Jon Solomon before he gave it to Brian and Amy in the early 2000’s. It was used on records by Mazarin, The Bigger Lovers, BC Camplight, and everything else we recorded that had piano. Then, when we moved to Fishtown in 2005, we had no idea that dry air, pouring into the room from a brand new HVAC could dry it out so the pins could no longer stay in tune. We thought it was a goner, and with a BC Camplight record on the calendar for 2006, we researched and found the Mason and Hamlin. Of course, we disconnected the ductwork from the isolation room and took great precautions to humidify the room adequately for the Mason and Hamlim. When just then… wouldn’t you know it… the Cunningham absorbed all that liquid it was robbed of, and came right back to life. Incapable of parting with it (did we say that it was the childhood piano of WPRB legend Jon Solomon?), we pushed thumbtacks into the hammers, and it became a brand new instrument, rebranded “the tack piano”. It’s been used on countless records, and legend has it, even inspired Scott McMicken of Dr. Dog to make his own tack piano used on a lot of their records. That’s good history. Good karma.