Kuerti article, part II (long)

[C. E. Hood]

About the repair suggestions by Mr Kuerti, not all of them are entirely bad.  It is commonly advised to burnish rather than file the balance & front pin holes by restorers and those dealing with reproduction early keyboards.  The tightness here (except maybe in cheap new pianos with poor keyboard wood) is often humidity caused, and to actually remove wood with a file is inviting looseness later.  I'd think the heavier the keys, like modern piano keys, the more problem this would be.  I think European technicians are taught to burnish (an awl works as well as anything).   This presumes the keys are fitted and eased properly at the factory, which is probably not true with many quickie spinets etc.  But we're talking well-maintained concert pianos here I think.
     Margaret Hood



-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Tanner <jtanner@mozart.sc.edu>
To: Jim Harvey <harvey@greenwood.net>, College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2004 08:57:13 -0500
Subject: Re: Kuerti article, part II (long)


On Thursday, March 4, 2004, at 05:56 AM, Jim Harvey wrote:

> Hello friends and colleagues (providing I have any of either after
> this reply),
>
>
Jim,
When I posted offlist/onlist to Phil, the points you make are exactly 
the sort of concerns I was referring to.  With all due respect to Mr. 
Kuerti, many of the methods he describes are understandably outdated 
(yes the article is 30 plus years old, and is based on his experience 
going back to the 1940s if I read correctly)).  Quite a few of his 
regulation standards are based on personal preference, and I disagree 
with some of them as a general rule.  Some are simply not practical for 
even quite advanced pianists.

Still the spirit of the article is a valuable resource for pianists and 
technicians alike.  The bulk of his descriptions are accurate, despite 
the few differences in personal preference and changes brought upon by 
advances in the past 30 plus years (not to mention changes in design).

I, like you, wonder how much of this article he would revise today.

Jeff

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