***** Hi Steve, here's that article I told you about. I'm afraid that I'm
so close to the product and it's service that I can't be very objective or I
feel I'm over informative. Give me some direction, and I'll rewrite if need be.
Criticism from the general tech pool is welcomed.
Lar **********************
SERVICING THE MODERN PLAYER PIANO
My dear respected fellow technicians,
I wish to address the issue of servicing the new generation player pianos.
Most of you have made up your minds on what to do when you hear the customer
has a pneumatic player (air operated), some of you run the other way, some
of you tell the customer to call someone else, and a choice few of you
accept the challenge with varying degrees of success.
The player piano of the most recent generation is just as unique and complex
as it's predecessor. It's appearance from the outside of the piano can be
quite deceiving. At first glance, it would appear that nothing's changed and
there's no reason to be concerned about the piano's expanded capabilities.
As long as that's all you do is tune the piano, and don't drop anything
inside, or have any reason to service the mechanics of the instrument, then
you will find nothing out of the ordinary.
Virtually every player I've serviced, has needed some adjusting of some
kind. From automatic recalibration to software manipulation to attaching
product specific calibration hardware, every new generation player needs
adjusting to keep the electro-mechanical parts working in harmony with the
traditional parts. Knowing which parts to adjust is the key and can be a
real trick for those of you not familiar with the product. Becoming
familiar with the various products takes time and experience.
Servicing the electronic parts can be a new experience for most of you.
I've been in electronics most of my life since becoming a ham radio operator
at an early age, so replacing a circuit board, or trouble shooting the
various sub-assemblies is fairly routine for me. The simple task of taking
a voltage measurement can be quite an experience for some. The volt meters
of today are so sensitive that they can read the various levels of tarnish
found on the metal you're touching with the probe and so your voltage
reading will fluctuate, seemingly all over the place. Interpreting this
wrong could lead you way off course and cause you to make numerous trips to
the customer's home (their arms folded and their toes tapping).
We all know that trouble shooting over the phone can be a real trick.
Knowledge of how the device is operated, it's various features and the
buttons that are pushed to get these features is crucial to cost effective
service. Many times, such things can be explained over the phone. Some
customers barely know how to turn it on and get it to play and so explaining
details of it's operation over the phone is not usually an option with these
folks. Then there's the customer who has their computer connected to the
internet, their piano, as well as a keyboard, a fax/scanner/printer and
would like them all to work same-'ol-timeously so they can hear their piano
playing in the background as they perform office work, or they need to make
a living composing, compiling, and editing music with their machines and
need you to know some things about the software they're using to do all
this. Don't forget, there are those who are using these automatic pianos in
conjunction with some software and are having problems getting the piano to
play soft enough, or with enough expression, or with enough clarity to satisfy.
If you need to repin a flange or do other weight/friction altering repairs,
you'll need to recalibrate the player mechanism to accomodate the changes
made. On some, pulling the action requires you to disconnect a cable or
two, and remembering to reconnect them is usually crucial to proper function
of the instrument after you leave the house. Another thing to consider is
the re-installation of the action in the action cavity on grands. Some
players have been installed in such a way that you have to mash all the keys
down, and with the sustain pedal depressed, you slide the action back in.
Field installed players such as PianoDisc and Pianomation may have such
widely varied installations from one piano to the next, even within the same
make and model, that some technicians find this quite unnerving. Baldwin is
insisting that all their Concert Master installations look as similar as
possible from one to the next, regardless of who installed them.
One particular model that I know of won't acknowledge the presence of the
key sensor strip if you power up the unit with the sensor strip unplugged
and then plug it back in. Shutting it off at the control panel doesn't cure
this problem. You must either unplug the unit from the wall for a few
minutes or turn it off at the power supply, then before applying the power
again, be sure the sensor strip is plugged in correctly.
Concert Masters have a separate power switch for the sensor strip which in
itself creates some rather frantic moments for dealers, technicians and
customers.
In summation, servicing automatic players is like anything else. Experience
and exposure to the product creates the best opportunity to become a more
knowledgeable and competent technician when called upon to service these
things. If you assume that they're like any other piano, only it has a few
extra doo-dads attached, you'll be looking good until one day something
comes up and you'll be pulling your hair out (if you have any) trying to
keep the customer's confidence, while very effectively digging yourself a
very deep hole to hide in.
Advice?? Well, if you're not confident working with electronics, and don't
have a very good mechanical aptitude, refer servicing these piano types to
other technicians. If that option is not available to you, call the
factory. They're usually used to talking to people with your type of phobia.
Remember, if you're wearing lots of synthetic fibers (nylon,
double-knit, polyester, rayon) or are wearing wool, or you have leather
soles on your shoes, these generate lots of static. Static electricity can
blow holes in the sensitive electronics of these things when the circuit
boards are exposed or out of their protective boxes and coverings. These
holes are not the type that the naked eye can see, but under a microscope
they can look like an atom bomb went off in the vicinity of ground zero.
Keep up to date on them as much as possible. Spend time on the
dealer's floor familiarizing yourself with the product as time permits. It
will be time well spent.
Carry the factory recommended minimum parts and service materials to
every automatic piano service call. This can be a rather large investment,
but for some of you, it may be unavoidable if you're going to service these
things on an active basis. Since I was formerly an electronic organ
technician, and had developed the skills to troubleshoot the electronics in
these things before they were invented, I find I'm quite comfortable doing
service calls with a few spare parts, a DVM (Digital Volt-Ohm Meter) and the
service/calibration kit from QRS. The rest I can varify over the phone by
having the customer answer a few questions or perform a few tasks for me
before I schedule the call.
Know you're limits on these things. Plugging something in wrong, or
dropping something conductive into small places can create havoc in your
life as well as the customer's. Unplug them while you're servicing them
....... it's cheap insurance.
Lar
Larry Fisher RPT
specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC