Del, I'm going back on Tuesday Oct 28 to measure the gap, if any, between pinblock and plate flange. I talked to the installer and he assures me that the pinblock was meticulously fitted to the flange. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks for your response. Ted Simmons >JIMRPT@aol.com wrote: > >> Ted; >> A new string job is not as stable as one which has had numerous tunings, >> naturally, and this is might be the cause of your 'M' being a little flat >> each time. >> A loose pinblock to plate flange might be an indicator of not quite accurate >> workmanship but it does not needfully cause the piano to go flat. If the >> pinblock is glued and doweled into the stretcher and side rims any forward >> movement of the pinblock will be minimal. If 'not' glued/screwed/ doweled, >> there is no telling what will happen to the plate/tuning (perhaps Del will >> speak to this) >> Before you cross this firm off, be sure that the reason for such apparent >> instability is/was not just due to the lack of adequate tuning/rubbing in the >> shop before delivery. You say "It has received 8 tunings since its >> reconditioning." Does this mean that you have tuned it eight times? & How >> long has it been since it was delivered? >> I tell my customers, and the techs, I rebuild for that it will take at >> least a year for a newly restrung instrument to settle down and the more >> times they tune it the quicker this will happen. Some settle down faster >> than others, why ? I don't know. >:| >> Jim Bryant (FL) > >Ted, Jim, et al, > >>From the sound of Ted's original post, the piano was restrung by someone >>in whom he has faith. Had this been a first >experience I might be inclined to suspect a poor pinblock fit or >installation. (We once re-did a Steinway pinblock done by a >"well-known rebuilder" that looked like it had been hacked out with a >chain saw. It was neither glued nor doweled to either >the rim or the bellyrail. The customer--another rebuilder--was clued in by >the fact that about half of the tuning pin holes >in the block did not line up with the holes in the plate. A few of them >could barely be seen.) I don't know how this piano >would have performed, it never got that far. We put in another block and >another new soundboard. > >In general, Steinway plates are a bit on the light weight side. This is an >intentional part of the design; they're not just >being "cheap" trying to save iron. This design depends on the pinblock >being a structural part of the rim assembly to help >support the plate. They also depend on the plate nose and wedge assembly >to transfer and distribute some of the load from the >plate/pinblock to the belly braces. Steinway's more than most depend on a >good, tight fit between the pinblock and plate. >They also depend on having the nose wedge firmly in place between the >plate nose and the belly rail (or "tone-collector"). >Properly put together, and with the nose wedge properly in place, it all >makes an enormously rigid assembly. > >If the pinblock were not glued and doweled to the rim assembly and/or if >the wedge were not correctly installed I would >expect plate problems down the road. It would probably break eventually >(if not right away). I'd expect the strut between the >bass/tenor break to go. If the wedge is correctly installed, but the block >is not glued and doweled, who knows? The piano >would probably be fairly unstable even if the block were well fitted to >the pinblock flange. I can't imagine any shop with >more than a passing knowledge of (and respect for) Steinway piano >construction doing the job this way, however. > >Aside from checking to be sure that the pinblock is firmly glued in place >and in firm contact with the plate pinblock flange >and that the wedge (or in the case of those with the flat square plate >that is butted up against a recess in the belly rail >and screwed in place, the wood shim) is firmly in place, there may not be >much you can do but wait it out. Well, you could >also check to be sure that the plate bolts and pinblock screws are snug. >(Now, if you've been reading your Journal, you know >I don't believe in overdoing this, but it's not a bad idea to check them >with a new or a recently rebuilt piano.) You might >also check the nose bolt blocks, though I've never seen one of these come >loose on its own. I have seen a couple that were >taken off for some obscure reason and put back on incorrectly. It's hard >to do it wrong, though--it's a pretty simple system. > >Depending on where the piano goes, we don't expect a fresh rebuilt piano >to settle down for at least 12 to 18 months. A bit >longer than that if the piano has had a new soundboard installed as well. >Generally, we advise the piano owner to expect >their pianos to require at least four tunings the first year, three the >second and two thereafter. During the first year this >schedule would call for the first tuning 30 days after delivery (the piano >is delivered tuned and on, or very slightly above, >pitch), the second two months later, the third following three to four >months after that and then at four month intervals >until the piano has fully stabilized. This schedule might well be revised >by their tuner (who must be considered the final >judge of the matter) but this would be pretty typical. It would not be >unusual to expect some drop in pitch each time. > >Regards, > >--ddf
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC