>At 10:20 AM 2/29/96 -0700, Fred Yonley wrote (edited for length): >>The Steinway B at one of the largest churches in Dallas where I service >>pianos took a turn for the worst recently. <snip> I responded: >Wouldn't the combined effect of a piano being in a dry environment and being >dried out further by the dehumidifiers lead to problems with the soundboard >losing crown? From the symptoms you are describing, I would say that the piano >is suffering from dehydration! I think that the piano really needs some more >moisture as soon as possible. <snip> >Why do you say that a humidifier is out of the question? What are the obvious >reasons? Actually, for a 7' grand, wouldn't it be appropriate to have TWO >humidifiers? <snip> >A complete Dampp-Chaser system is much less expensive than getting a new 7' >Steinway grand. Wouldn't it be worth it to install the complete system to put >some moisture back into the piano and see if that increases the crown in the >soundboard? <snip> (I don't know from experience that putting moisture back >into this piano will bring back the soundboard crown, but it is logical, and I >think it is worth a try.) Fred Yonley wrote: >>I am recommending that they stay with Steinway given the fact that they >>hold up well in adverse situations. This piano was made in the 70's. (Don't >>know if they bought it new) Given the environment I think that other makes >>would have also had problems and gone belly up (actually down) by now. >>There does not seem to be much interest in restoring this piano when I >>mentioned the price of a new board, etc. I responded: >Doesn't it make sense to spend $20,000.00 to completely rebuild this piano >instead of spending $35,000 to $60,000 for a new piano? And if they do get a >new piano, they definitely NEED to have a complete Dampp-Chaser installed or >they will see the same problems with the new piano that they are seeing with >this one. > >>Thanks for any input >> >>Fred Yonley, RPT > > >Dear Fred ( and all of the rest of you too!), > >This is just my two cents worth. If this is helpful, great, but if not, please >write to me and tell me what you think about my advice (Good or Bad). > >Sincerely, > >David A. Vanderhoofven >dkvander@clandjop.com Well, folks, I think I may have sent off my reply to Fred Yonley's question without thinking everything through. Jim Harvey wrote to me and pointed out two fallacies in my "logic"! 1. Dallas probably has different humidity swings than Joplin, where I live. In Joplin I have recorded the relative humidity levels while tuning, and in the last year I recorded a high of 81%RH and a low of 19%RH inside the rooms where the pianos were located. Dallas is probably humid most of the time, possibly not needing the humidifier portion of the Dampp-Chaser system. Sorry about my mistake in not considering the different climate in Dallas. 2. Jim Harvey kindly informed me in more detail about how the Dampp-Chaser system works. I did not consider that if the humidifier tank is allowed to run out of water that the small dehumidifier rod which is part of the humidifier will kick on and dry the piano out further than it otherwise would normally. I am taking the liberty of quoting part of Jim Harvey's personal e-mail message to me, because I think his comments are helpful. (From Jim Harvey, quoted with his permission. Thanks Jim!) >>Off subject (and off the list), you may want to rethink your response >>to the climate control installation in Dallas. If you already know >>this, excuse the bandwidth. Otherwise, consider the following: >> >>- Dallas is quite humid, not normally requiring *extra* humidity; I >>know -- I spent a year there one week at a national convention! :) >> >>- unless local conditions or other circumstances dictate otherwise, it >>is quite common to NOT install the entire D/C system, especially in >>situations where the humidifier portion could go unattended (and run >>dry) for long periods of time. The results are that when the >>Humidistat kicks over to the humidifying portion and the bucket is >>empty, there is a small but nontheless effective drying element >>involved. This is worse than not installing the humidifier in the >>first place; >> >>- when no humidifying portion exists, the Humidistat switches over >>anyway. When there is nothing to switch to, this effectively shuts off >>the system when the appropriate dehumidification level has been >>reached. No further drying (from the rods) occurs. Any drying after >>that point is ambient, not due to the D/C system. >> >>Your reponse showed not only interest, but appeared as if you spent >>time in seriously considering the issue before replying. However, your >>*answers* indicated that you were either unaware of ambient conditions >>in Dallas, OR the way the D/C Humidistat works. I just thought I'd >>throw this in here in confidence -- instead of on the list. >> >>Regards, and thanks again! >> >>Jim Harvey So, I will just have to say that I don't know what would cause a suuden loss of tone in a piano that has been tuned regularly. I just don't have enough knowledge and/or experience! However, I still wonder if it is possible that a piano soundboard could lose it's crown because the piano is too dry. I think that I have read this somewhere - does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks! Also, I just want to say how much I enjoy this list.!!! Sincerely, David A. Vanderhoofven dkvander@clandjop.com Joplin, Missouri, USA Associate Member, Piano Technicians Guild web page: http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/
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