Windows and pianos

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi Mike, Tim, and to whom...

Furniture, to a piano technician, is the "F" word (or, at least, it SHOULD
be). The case, does not a piano make. It ain't the finish that's the
problem. With 16-20 tons of string tension, and a soundboard trying to
balance the resultant downbearing, it's the dimensional changes in the
structural components as a result of local hot spots that ought to be the
concern. Too many times I have sat in direct sunlight (after reading the
customer the riot act concerning the placement of the instrument in the
room, and the lack of appropriate curtains) trying to tune a piano whose
pitch is changing as the sun moves across the soundboard. Sure, I could bale
out, but I would have to charge them a service call to cover the trip. The
problem is, if I can't convince them that the sunlight on the soundboard is
ultimately detrimental to the piano, how can I justify charging them to
refuse the tuning, and leaving in a huff? Incidentally, that's a 1946 Huff,
with auto-pilot, and a Civil Defense approved basement. The point here is
that there are more than esthetic concerns here. Somewhere along the line,
someone is going to have to contend with the laws of thermodynamics. I just
wish it wasn't me all the time. 

End rant, Ron

At 03:37 PM 1/25/98 -0800, you wrote:
>ETomlinCF3 wrote:
>> 
>> Mike Hoffman asks if anyone is seeing lots of pianos in windows.  I am
>> building a new 2500+ sq ft home and I also will place it in front of a large
>> bay window...because it makes me happy to play it there. *snip*
>
>The only place in my house to put a grand (I will have one some day) 
>would be in a south-facing bay window, too.  There are things that can be 
>done to ameliorate such an environment, though.  There are thermal pane 
>windows with a membrane between the two pieces of glass which reflects UV 
>and IR. This would go a long way towards preventing damage to the finish 
>of the instrument.
>
>Tim Keenan
>Noteworthy Piano Service
>Terrace, BC
>
>

 Ron Nossaman