Kuerti article, part II (long)

[Isaac OLEG]

Thanks to Susan for these lectures ,interesting for many reasons, and
some of them are indeed covered by the comments from Jim.

Anyway having a pianist talking about pianos have always interesting
points.

And for sure the last 10 years showed a huge amelioration in our
knowledge (hopefully shared) and the time have showed the truth in
regard of many usual techniques  (that where may be also for many
coming from Europe, most certainly).

I like your comments Jim.

My Best wishes to you Suzan.

Regards to all, etc...

Isaac OLEG

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]De
> la part de Jim
> Harvey
> Envoye : jeudi 4 mars 2004 11:56
> A : College and University Technicians
> Objet : Re: Kuerti article, part II (long)
>
>
> Hello friends and colleagues (providing I have any of either after
> this reply),
>
> Thursday, March 4, 2004, 3:06:33 AM, Susan wrote:
>
> SK> Part II of Anton Kuerti's article, "What Pianists
> Should Know About Pianos."
>
> This response is particularly for newer technicians, whether CAUT or
> otherwise.
>
> Due to the way my mailer preferences are set up, I started reading
> Susan's post from Part II without even seeing Part I. At
> that time, I
> thought she was 'baiting' us with a couple quotes from the
> article. I
> then realized it was complete, that there were two parts, and so on.
>
> Please recognize that, as technicians, we have garnered
> more knowledge
> about the workings and proper servicing of pianos during the past
> decade or so than at any point in history. This is largely due to
> sharing information instead of taking it to our respective graves.
>
> I don't remember what initiated the search for this article, but
> without violating any due respect to Anton (explained in a
> moment), I
> would suggest by all means reading it, but *seriously*
> scrutinize each
> and every method of corrective procedure for a particular operation.
> Just because something is in print doesn't necessarily mean it is
> gospel. In a technical area of any kind, one's "best
> advice" stars to
> grow whisker rather quickly.
>
> Since I started reading Part II, the first things that appeared were
> references to knuckles and key friction, and the recommended
> correction methods. I didn't have to read any further -- the chest
> pains were already getting pretty intense.
>
> Using only these couple of items for reference, some of this
> information is quite dated, but was accepted as general practice at
> the time.
>
> [Copyright and printed in Clavier, 1973; reprinted Journal 1975.
> Disallowing for the author's time in generating the article, getting
> in the holding pattern for publishing, etc., this makes the
> article a
> *minimum* of 31 years old!]
>
> With this in mind:
>
> Examples:
> 1. We don't apply graphite to knuckles.
>
> This same recommendation had even more distribution, since it
> duplicates the same procedure (and error) mentioned in
> Reblitz' book.
>
> 2. We don't use WD-40 on action centers (or anywhere else)
> Well, maybe
> on castors, but even then the practice is questionable (WD = water
> displacement, 40 = formula #40; no mention of long-term lubricant).
>
> The source of this is also in the archives. It appeared in the
> Journal, and worse, it appeared in the initial Kawai service manual.
> As best I can determine, that manual was distributed to anyone who
> asked, whether PTG member, piano "tuner" or Baptist
> preacher. Whether
> George Defebaugh began endorsing this or picked it up from elsewhere
> is not known. What *is* known is that he later recanted on this, but
> thousands of those manuals remain on bookshelves today around the
> world, with George's endorsement "in cement".
>
> 3. We don't use awls to ease balance holes.
>
> Again, the origins of this practice are unknown to me, but this is
> close to one that was also endorsed by Kawai. The difference is that
> the Kawai method used 4" Nicholson round bastard file(s), specially
> miked and chosen to match the Kawai balance pins (they are different
> diameters in the same box), and with two opposing sides
> ground FLAT to
> avoid 'pulley' keys.
>
> Lest this reply become longer than the original article, I'll stop
> with the above references. I don't want to disrespect the
> works of any
> authors, nor do I want to challenge the integrity of anyone reading
> this message. These authors were providing what could have been
> considered 'leading edge' information at the time. However,
> I for one
> would like to go back and change the way I did certain
> things 30-plus
> years ago. I believe these authors, including Mr. Kuerti,
> likely feel
> the same way.
>
> --
> Regards,
>  Jim                            mailto:harvey@greenwood.net
>
> _______________________________________________
> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>