Kawai tuning

[Ronald R Shiflet]

Andre,
	It sounds like a typical piano where nobody has done anything
except tuning.  Prep it right and you'll love it.  As for the feel of
the pins, Japanese pianos seem to be a bit spongy.  Not bad, just
different.  Develop the feel for them.  To me, it seems like all brands
of pianos seem to have their own personality or feel.  You just have to
learn what they all feel like.
	Blindfolded, I could probably tell the difference between a
Steinway, Baldwin, and Kawai.  Am I an expert?  Hardly.  I just happen
to have worked on these particular brands.  Any half way experienced
technician should be able to do this.  Just my opinion.

Ron Shiflet



On Thu, 06 Feb 1997 21:25:18 +0000 "Oorebeek A." <> writes:
>Dear Colleagues,
>Another Kawai story...A week ago I told you about one of my =
>experiences with a Kawai Concert Grand EX.
>As faith would have it, I was recently called by a wellknown Dutch =
>jazz pianist.
>He told me he was recording music for a cd and he did not like the =
>work the tuner had
>done that morning, besides, the instrument was >terribly< out of =
>tune.."would I have time to come immediately"?
>I first tried to talk him into calling the other guy first, but he =
>said no, he would rather have me come.
>So I went over and there was that same Concert Kawai (5 years old) I =
>had worked on once some years ago.
>As you can understand, I did not have much time to do anything else =
>but make a fresh tuning and do some minimal voicing (it was very =
>uneven).
>I remembered our posts about Kawai's and told myself to tell you =
>exactly what I found.
>Here it is:
>Many false beats.
>Strings not completely tight down on the bridge.
>Frame bolts kind of loose.
>Regulation and voicing bad.
>And most important: I found it difficult to "find my way" with the =
>tuning pins.
>Usually, I try to get a "tick!" sound when I turn the pin, these pins
>=
>however, were quite difficult.
>The "tick!" often did not come, and it took all my experience to set =
>the pins.
>I think these factors that I just described, could make a Kawai a =
>little more difficult, but
>especially the setting of the pins.
>With Steinways and Yamaha's I do not have the tuning problems.
>I would like to hear your meaning about this and =
>>please<...understand!..this is not meant
>as criticism but as a technical problem I would like to discuss.
>I also wanted to say that the studio asked me to come back another =
>day to
>improve the situation.
>I will tap the strings, tighten frame bolts, regulate the action, =
>file hammers,
>tune a couple of times and make a fine voicing.
>Lastly, I must tell you also that the sound of this beast was =
>magnificent!
>
>
>Friendly Greetings from:
>
>CONCERT PIANO SERVICE
>Andr=E9 Oorebeek
>Amsterdam, the Netherlands
>email address: oorebeek@euronet.nl
>
>=89 Where Music is no harm can be =89
>
>