Monochord PSO

AKarab@aol.com AKarab@aol.com
Fri, 28 Apr 1995 04:06:23 -0400


Bob Simmons writes:

>One of my customers has a Monochord studio (the little short keyboards)
>which seems to display a crack dividing the top and bottom of the
>pinblock, all the way from bass to treble. Basically the piano is folding
>in on itself and the pitch (not to surprisingly) dropped 1/4 tone.

In the midwest I saw two late 70's Story and Clark consoles that had very
similar serious chasms.

> With
this little PSO, would you consider any type of repair feasible (epoxy -
>not block replacement) and permanent, or is strictly time for the funeral?

One I saw long after a repair was made -- and it held its tuning o.k.
Somebody used hefty bolts through front to back, maybe 4 or 5 spaced
throughout about 2 " down from the top with nuts in the back.
No fills or glue visible.
The other piano I saw before and after-- a very similar repair but with the
addition of what looked like a fill solution used -- I don't know why they
needed it, I assume they took the tension down completely and then reloaded
it -- which I guessed from color and texture was epoxee and sawdust fairly
neatly trimmed and sanded.  Maybe there were a still a few rough edges after
bolt clamping because of the tearing nature of the initial chasm?  Anyway, it
also seemed to hold its tuning o.k.   Both these pianos I only saw 2x after
the repair, so I only saw one of my tunings after a year's time on each
piano.

Good luck --

Audrey Karabinus,   Seattle



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