[CAUT] Not so Funny

[James Ellis]

On March 9, Lance Laffargue asked an honest question about any possible
lubricant that might be used on the capo bars of those M&H Mod. BBs with
the very steep string angle.  I'm familiar with that problem.  Lance asked
an honest question that deserved an honest answer, but instead, he received
a series of jokes about spraying WD-40.  I didn't think they were funny,
because some people have been known to do the very thing those jokes
described.

About a decade ago, another technician called me to advise and/or assist
him in removing WD-40 that a third techician had applied to a teaching
studio M&H grand.  I agreed, under the condition that I would do my best,
but there would be no guarantee of results, good or bad.  The objective was
to get that stuff out of there before some of it migrated down into the
pinblock.

I took an ample supply of cotton and cotton balls, clean rags, pairs of
long tweezers, a small can of naphtha, and some plastic bags.  I packed
cotton around the tuning pins to prevent an accidental spatter from running
down the pin.  Then we very carefully went to work, string by string, with
small wads of cotton moistened with the naphtha and held by tweezers,
followed immediately with small wads of dry cotton.  As I say, one string
at a time - very carefully - so as not to spread that stuff around.  The
clean-up was successful, and nothing went down into the block.  The job,
plus the trip, took the best part of one day.  As long as there are some
people who will put this stuff in this area of pianos, it is not something
to joke about.  

As for a lubricant:  Before the piano is strung, a pure paste wax like you
would use to wax your car - the kind without any abrasive - can be applied
to the contact surface of the copo, dried and rubbed out.  That will help a
little bit by adsorbing to the semi-porous surface of a cast iron capo, and
it will retard corrosion, but it won't be permanent.  I'm sure there are
other substances that would be better than the paste wax.  But as I said,
before stringing.  After the piano has been strung, NO, NOTHING.

Sincerely, Jim Ellis