Gulbransen makes a few MIDI kits (I know what you are thinking, but this MIDI stuff is good) ranging from real basic to some complete with sound modules. Sounds as if your customer just needs the basic sensor strip with a control box. It is essentially a long metal strip with circuit boards and little "fingers" that activate a type of opto/electric circuit. It is installed under the keys as close to the front as possible. The instructions are very well done. The piano technician can install it unless he/she has a great fear of the unknown...(giggles I hope). I have installed these on a couple of instruments back in '93 and in '95 with the results being excellent. One installation was a Yamaha, an old No.2 circa 50's and the other a 7 ft Baldwin, circa early 80's. The Gulbransen "MIDI Kits" were relatively inexpensive (500.00 - 650.00) and the installation was straightforward. The Yamaha was really easy, but on the Baldwin I had to mortise about a 1/4 inch from the top of the key-frame so the sensor strip would sit at the right height under the keys. It was a little scary but it didn't hurt the integrity of the keyframe and it turned out beautiful. There are other manufacturers of "MIDI" strips but I found the Gulbransen to be a good product at a reasonable price for the basic MIDI features needed. It should only take a few hours to install. I charged 350.00 for the Baldwin back in '95 but would charge more now especially because I didn't know I would have the additional time & labor of removing wood from the keyframe. The Yamaha was pretty much a bolt-on installation. You have to remove the stack and all the keys in either case, mount the strip on the keyframe making sure you have the proper clearance from the bottom of the keys to the switches (i.e. "fingers"), Put everything back together and test with customers MIDI sound module or computer. I also play music professionaly and have MIDI sound modules so my installation was easy to test. There should be no regulation needed after the install unless regulation was needed before-hand in which case do the regulating before the install or the MIDI data generated won't be consistent (as would be the case with the piano's touch). Go for it! Greg Torres, Technician Niceville, Fla Tunapiana@aol.com
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