[CAUT] tone building for impatient pianists

[Jim Busby]

Fred is correct, and Eric Schandall once told me that they just use "whatever is on hand". It's not as scientific as one would think. The end results; what happens, is what's important.\

Jim Busby

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred Sturm
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 7:20 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] tone building for impatient pianists

On Nov 20, 2008, at 6:57 PM, David Love wrote:


I should add that the dilution you use will depend on the solids content of the lacquer you are using.

            This is a VERY important point. For a long time the Steinway techs based their recommendations on the lacquer they got out of the factory, which was already diluted for spraying. Then Eric Schandall checked the solids ratio and found that it was, as I recall off the top of my head (please don't take this as gospel), about 11-12%, or about half the normal 20-25%. Unfortunately, not all lacquer labels give solids ratios. And, of course, if you've had it around a while, a bunch of solvent may have evaporated, making it thicker. To check my own supply, I weighed a small amount in a bottle cap (weighed the bottle cap empty first), then set it to evaporate and weighed again dry after a couple weeks.
            It's a real problem trying to make sense of various people's recommendations and warnings when we don't really have the same standard. This is just by way of warning to the unwary: take the ratios with a grain of salt, and use your own experience and judgment. WIth some experience, you can tell by the look and consistency, but saying "like water" or something along those lines isn't really precise enough.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu<mailto:fssturm at unm.edu>


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