[CAUT] What to do???

[reggaepass at aol.com]

Hi Paul,



Every winter we have to contend with RH below 30% almost all of the time and under 20% for a good deal of it.  It goes with out saying that this is bad for pianos (and string instruments, reeds, organic drum heads and the like).  We have many Yamahas and some Steinways, Bosendorfers, Falcones and Baldwins.   They have all unquestionably suffered from this extreme seasonal fluctuation, yet there are no separated ribs (that I am aware of), and a few compression ridges, but no opened soundboard cracks (yet).  As for tuning stability, like the guy from Joisey sez, "Fa-ge-da-bou-dit."




Alan Eder


-----Original Message-----
From: Paul T Williams <pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 2:51 pm
Subject: [CAUT] What to do???









Hi all!



I always appreciate your input.  Here's
a new twist...



Our building is currently dangerously
dry.  When Richard West was here, the administrative secretary always
told him to contact the "facilities" people, directly, across
campus who controls the campus buildings to turn on the steam to remedy
the situation. I was also told this when I started to do this and and have,
regularly. This year,   I have tried for the last 3 weeks to do this
with no results.  Our humidity, now, is below 20% and the pianos have
gone completely wacky as you can imagine.



After sending several messages to facilities,
I got no results.  I sent another to our director, and another t
o
the senior vice chancellor ( a customer of mine for her personal piano)
and other esteemed folks.  I got a "cease  correspondance"
message back from our director.(probably embarassed)  He now states
that I have to report to the finance/business director, who responds to
him, who responds to the Dean of Fine Arts, who then calls facilities to
turn on the humidity!!!!!!  Is this the biggest load of political
crap you've ever heard of?? He states that I have to go through the channels
of authority to get anything done in "such a large university:.  With
this crap, I might see the steam turned on in January!!!! If ever....How
come Richard was able to just get the steam turned on?



I now fear cracking boards, loose ribs,
separating bridges, failing glue joints of every kind, and the like.  I
then went to the "finance/business manager" (?) and she said
bluntly that she had no time to deal with this issue today.



Should I just throw up my hands and
say, "whatever"? or should I go to Home Depot and buy 110 buckets
to put water in and set them under each piano to try to help them through
their "hospice"????



HELP!!!!



Paul


 




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