Help, URGENT!

[DBHersh@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-02-16 22:35:46 EST, you write:

>According to Paul Monachino, who worked for Aeolian, then Mason & Hamlin,
>from 1947 to 1995, Aeolian made a small grand (about 4'10"?) in their East
>Rochester, NY factory which, beginning in the 1960s, had a weak plate, prone
>to breakage.  It was sold under a variety of names, including J. & C.
Fischer
>and Geo. Steck.  Paul said lots of these broke in the factory when the piano
>was being strung, but often they would break in the field too, sometimes
many
>years after manufacture.  Last year I put a note about this phenomenon in
the
>third edition of The Piano Book, under "Aeolian", so that technicians who
ran
>into trouble with these pianos could use the power of the printed word to
>help defend themselves against disgruntled customers.  Marnie Squire's
>valiant and successful defense against a lawsuit (see message above)
prompted
>me to do this.
>
>Larry Fine

Larry,
   Here I go again with another broken plate story. I got a call to tune a
Mason&Hamlin Grand. I think it was a Model "A" but it could have been a "AA"
I don't remember. It was built in the early 70's. Did they make a "AA" then?
Anyway I tuned it and it turned out fine. They called me about 6 or 8 months
later which wasn't really enough frequency for a church but not way out of
line and when I got there the piano was over 40 cents flat in the treble and
I thought, either I had better take up a new line of work or something was
really wrong. Sure enough the plate strut nearest the low treble had a small
narrow crack branching up toward the top of the strut. The Pastors wife was
the Pianist for the church and I don't think they would have called as soon
as they had because it was just kind of a poor country church but later the
Pastor's wife told me she called because the piano went out of tune "all of a
sudden" like it was overnight hmmmm.... I don't remember all the details like
time of year etc. but I wonder if a sudden change in temperature could cause
this. I informed them I couldn't tune it with any accuracy and told them some
options. I'll bet there were some people in that church that thought I was
somehow at fault but they never said anything. When I looked closely at the
plate it looked like a very crude rough casting like it was made in a third
world country or something. BTW the first time I saw the piano I did all of
the usual plate screw tightening, string seating etc. There was no big change
in tension like a huge pitch raise or anything, I just think it was a poorly
built piano like alot of those Aeolian grands with the hammers with a light
green color to the felt. Ugh! Maybe the small 4' 10" grands weren't the only
ones with problem plates from that era.

Doug Hershberger,RPT