of benches, braces, plate repairs and wedgies

[musselj@cadvision.com]

Hi Phil...

> Of the Artists benches we have the best are available from
> Jannsen and have a new kind of mechanism which is kind of
> scissors like and works well without noise for a long time.  They

We have a similar bench (no name on it) at the Jubilee Auditorium here. It was purchased in 1956
and still has its original quilted leather cover. It's been refinished a couple of times and
I had to make a new leg once when it was pushed into the pit, but it still works as well as the
day it arrived. I hope the new ones are as good!

> also sell replacement sleeves for the ends of the bars that slide

I'll keep that in mind. No need for it yet, though.

> and down.  We have a whole pile of worn out artist benches and
> they all have the old kind of machine with a big shaft running
> all the way through and a couple levers that move the seat up and
> down.  They are worthless on stage but we use them in studios.

We have two of those... neither are satisfactory as you are no doubt aware even haaving never
seen them.

> I was down at the Kimball factory once on a guild tour and they
> wanted to show us the new hydraulic artist bench they had.  I sat
> down and rocked back and forth and the thing squeaked like mad.
> I was not impressed.

Is it exactly like the Bosendorfer one or just a cheap copy? Maybe it was the Ray Charles model?
B-})

> =================================================================
> Steinway plate braces can be removed as long as you can remove
> them by hand without any effort.  If they are stuck tight they
> will not go back in and it is best to leave those in place.  I

Agreed... if you HAVE to remove it and it's tight be prepared to lower the tension first.

> say that and yet we had some group come in and take the brace out
> of the D in the Auditorium so they could put in some kind of
> sound pickup device.  When they were done the thing would not go

Don't you hate it when people start playing around with your pianos when you're not around? I
made a comment in an earlier note about that.

> back in so the stage hands ground the ends of the brace down
> enough to replace it.  I don't know when this happened.  I found
> out about it when I restrung the thing and took the bar out for
> easier access to dampers and strings.  Any pressure on the bar
> now is taken by the screws.  It does not seem to have any affect.

Ouch! My suggestion would be to attempt to have some metal added to the ends to compensate and
then refitting it. IMO it should fit snugly (not tightly) with the plate when the piano is at
tension.

> =================================================================
> Now and then I come across Steinways that do not have the little
> metal wedge that goes between the horn and the crossblock.  This

I see rebuilt ones where the screws were cross-threaded and stuck out a half-inch or more. The
wedges are long gone.

> put it in place and held it with tape and started over.  Now and
> then I find pianos that have that metal wedge missing and also
> have new pin blocks that are fit very poorly.  They tune awful.

It's sad too... At least they can usually be rebuilt yet again but it's a shame to have to go
to that much expense.

> =================================================================
> The Baldwin company had me wedge a pin block on an Howard C171.
> This repair involves driving thin wooden wedges into the gap
> between the block and the plate flange.  It worked fine.  I was
> amazed at the difference in the way the piano tuned after wedging
> the block.  I have used this repair on several other pianos with
> badly fit pin blocks with good success.

I keep a bunch of small maple wedges in a box in my tools for just that pupose. It's amazing
how many pianos have a problem with the fit of the block to the flange. I generally check the
fit with a business card if I'm not familiar with the piano.

      John

//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// John Musselwhite   Calgary, AB CANADA
// Internet: musselj@cadvision.com or john.musselwhite@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca
// MetroNet: 201:5500/67