Strip muting problem

[DGPEAKE]

In a message dated 97-12-03 19:49:54 EST, you write:

<< After doing some repairs on a 1911 Feuhr & Stemmer (the subject of a
 previous post, for which I received some valuable tips - thanks again),
 and a couple of pitch raises, I went a couple of days ago to do the fine
 tuning. I discovered, much to my chagrin, that because the strings are
 very close to the plate (this appears to be by design, and not due to
 some problem that has crept up over the years), it was nearly impossible
 to get a strip to stay between the strings. So I used my thinnest strip,
 poked it in the best I could, and juggled wedge mutes frantically, but
 that made checks, such as series of thirds, etc., quite difficult.
 
 Does anyone have any suggestions as how best to handle this sort of
 problem? My first inclination was to tell the customer that I needed to
 burn in a hammer and "accidentally" set the whole piano on fire, but
 then decided that would be bad customer relations :o) But seriously, any
 help with stripping, or alternative (other than using 50 wedge mutes)
 would be greatly appreciated.

Jerry,

Try removing the action then strip muting towards the lower part of the string
where there is no plate mass, then reinstall the action.  You may have to play
around to make sure the moving parts will not interfere. 
 
To make sure you can remove the strip mute as you tune the unisons leave about
6'' of the strip to pull through 1 of the hammer assemblies, then start with
another strip.  

Even though you have to remove and reinstall the action, the end process will
be a lot faster than moving rubber mutes around.

I hope this helps.  I have not ecountered such an upright for a while and I
hope I made myself clear.

Dave Peake, RPT
Portland, OR