Yamaha GH-1 Grand

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Brad Smith wrote:

> I inquired about such a kit from Yamaha a few years ago, and was told that
> it did not exist. At the time, they said I would have to rescale for each individual
> GH1, and for that reason, the 'kit' idea would not work.   Does anyone else
> know of a kit that is available now?  Perhaps even a set of official Yamaha
> instructions on rescaling for this job would suffice.

I'd be wary of trying to find a "universal kit" for this --or any other -- type of string
scaling change. Manufacturing tolerances and running design changes being what they are,
it is nearly always best to work out the scaling for each individual instrument. It's not
that big a deal and it's not that expensive.

I've long ago quit furnishing "universal" scales for pianos of specific models even though
their scales "haven't been changed in years." It is far too easy for small, but critical,
changes to creep in, either by design intent from engineering or by the "down on the
factory floor designers" that many companies seem to have. This question has come up
repeatedly with certain Steinway models -- the Model M's and L's come to mind -- and I
know I've probably offended several by declining to furnish blanket recommendations
without seeing and looking through the whole scale, but I've learned from personal
experience to look at each one individually.

Scales of this type can be improved -- usually -- by converting the lowest tri-chord plain
steel string unisons to bi-chord wrapped unisons. (I've never understood the fixation with
the 20- or 26-bass note sections most of these short pianos still have. Most pianos under
200 cm really need 27 to 30 wrapped string unisons. Pianos 170 cm and shorter are going to
need up to 32.) Forget the heavy bi-chord plain steel wires. Even though you can sometimes
make the numbers work out on paper (or the computer screen) they won't work well audibly.
The speaking length of these strings is simply too short. If the change to bi-chord
wrapped strings is made, it is usually helpful to also change the diameters of a couple of
unisons leading up to the transition point as well. Again, it's best to look at the whole
scale.

Del