Servicing new players

[PDtek@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-07-05 15:16:35 EDT, you write:

>     For example, one customer has an upright Baldwin E250 w/QRS(?) I
believe,
>  and there ain't no way of replacing bass strings without creating a 
> nightmare, or calling the installer to remove system units inside the bottom
> of the piano.  Ther's simply too much in the way (I would hesitate to remove
> anything just to exclude myself from any potential disaster lurking)  What a
> fiasco for a bass string replacement if/when the time comes, not to mention 
> cost! 

It is my personal feeling that customers with pianos retrofitted with these
player systems should have all of their service done by a technician that is
qualified to work on the piano AND the player system, if possible. For
example, I don't accept requests to tune the old pnuematic players because I
am not knowledgable enough about the player mechanism. I refer these calls to
qualified techs. The last thing I want is to face an action in need of repair
because I don't want to mess with the player stack. It doesn't make sense to
call one tech for this, and another tech for that, at greater expense to the
customer.

 > I think that alot of people who buy pianos with these systems are either
uniformed >or give no consideration of servicing down the road.

I think most customers that put a player system on their piano would assume
that some service would be needed now and then. Here again, if the tech is
knowledgable of the player systems, regular piano repairs should not be more
costly most of the time. As far as being unaware of service needed, how many
people buying regular pianos are told by the dealer about the regular tuning
and regulation that their pianos will need? When I inform them during a first
service call, it always comes as a complete surprise to them.

>   Another problem would include blocking any chance of the installation of a
> proper climate control system, particularly on grands, especially if a 
> humidifier is needed.  

I can't say I have ever installed a climate control system on a piano with a
player unit, but I can't think of a reason it couldn't be done. I won't argue
that could be a few exceptions.

  > Another issue with grands.  Certain brands of piano use materials that do
not >allow for a quiet action, and a new player installation can greatly
magnify existing >action noise simply by the way the pistons play the action.
A lot more noise >occurs on an already "noisy"  piano when the system plays
it, as opposed to a >person activating the action.

I do not believe that the player mechanism magnifies the action noise. Some
systems do however, add some noise of their own. For example, the solenoids on
the PianoDisc system did until recently make some noise that was audible at
low volume levels. With the advent of the Silent Drive system last year, that
has been eliminated. Since these systems will play the piano VERY quietly,
action noise can be very noticable at minimum volume on some pianos, but
because of the very low volume, not because of the player system.

Dave Bunch
Certified PianoDisc Technician