I hope this was just an early post. Hey, it's still 5 days until April Fool's Day. Avery >List, I am a newbie to this wonderful world of piano tuning. I have read with >great interest the discussions on using C.A. glue to repair pin blocks. I tend >to think better using the letters SG instead of CA, because CA is to hard to >remember. (I too peel the lables off and put on a computer print out lable >that reads "S.G." It looks really proffessional & good.) > I have one older customer that has a Steinway "l" or "m", I can't remember. >Nice old couple, but the piano was horrible. It had been in S Florida for many >years according to the lady. A fella named "Mr. Ford" sold them this piano a >long time ago. Claimed it had a gold plate and they paid extra for it. Well, I >came to tune it and it had some really "funny" pins that I would tune and then >later come back and they were out of tune again. Not a lot but just enough to >put the piano out of tune again. I had to pull really hard on the tuning pin >to get it to move, but when it did move it jumped right up to pitch. After >three times through it was still falling short of the mark on my Korg digital >tuner. This is when the trouble started. > I had promised them I would get their piano right. I have set as my >goal, >every piano tuned perfectly at 440. I figure that'll get me some work and it >did. They were real impressed when I showed them the needle on my tuner go >right to 440 when I turned the tuning pin. Well anyway, it being a Sunday and >all, I was tired after four hours and the d**m thing was still reading below >440 on my tuner!!!!!! Well, now I wanted to get it right and leave and get >paid and all that. So I braved up and told them it would only be one more time >through and it would be right at 440. Now this is where I got really >professional and I told them that it won't hold a tuning anymore because the >pins won't hold their tune. I told them I would put some SG on the pins and >wait for a few minutes before I tuned it again. At this time the clock says it >4 pm, so I figure I can put on a coat of this SG and wait about 20 minutes >(beer time!!) go back and tune it . Meantime I just smooze with the Mr. & Mrs. >and make big bucks while I wait. So I put the SG on the plate and watch it >soak in around the holes. Not all of it is going in though? Some of it stays >on the plate? I run out of the stuff around the mid treble and figure I'm >making good money now I should go to the model shop and get a bigger bottle >before it closes at 5. When I come back I decide to check on my work. I tune >the a to 440 again and this time the pin won't budge? Finally after a lot of >wiggling I get a pin to move but it breaks a string! So now I decide that I >should've tuned the piano while I was tuning so the pins would "set" in the >right position. So before I get any farther into the string changing I start >to tune again. This time I don't put the SG on until I have tuned it to the >right spot. Anyway I come back to where the string has broken and start to >fix it. I am going to back the pin out three turns ( was told 2 1/2, but >three always works better, then you just hit it down until its even). So I >start turning and the tuning hammer pops off the pin and slams into the lid >lifter, cracking it. (man can you believe this? I've never had this bad of >luck). Well I get the pin to turn out but by the time it gets to the third >turn the head is so mangled my tuning hammer barely stays on it, So I decide >to take it completely out and replace it with a "new pin". The one I am taking >out was blue, but I show the couple the new one and get them to ok a silver >pin. Now when I put in the new one it barely fits? Well since I know how to >use SG I can put in any pin and just "SG" it. So I have to take out the >action to make sure the SG doesn't drip on the hammers. I pull the action. Man >it's got some black s**t all over the bottom of it and my hands are still >black! But I didn't see the black stuff until I set it on the couch which is >of course, white! (I carry peroxide and I can get that stain out. They know >this and when I come back for the check up I'll fix it). So, I put the SG in >and put my finger over the bottom of the tuning pin hole to make sure it >doesn't come out. All is fine and good until I shoot it with the fixer. Man I >had the shock of my life! All of a sudden my finger is on fire! I can't take >it from the hole because the SG is holding it in place! It's burning like >hell. And I can't budge it. I try wiggling it round and round, but the skin >just stays stuck!!!! I want to scream but I am in someone elses house. Finally >the pain stops, but I still can't move my finger. I start to think about what >I am going to do when the lady walks in. I quickly stop grimacing and tell her >everything is almost finished but that I have to wait for the SG to set and so >on. She says that her & her husband go to bed at 8 pm and could I just come >back in the morning. I come up with a great one. I tell her that this process >has to be completed in one day or otherwise it'll be "defective". So they wait >up. > Meanwhile I think an finally come up that a good lube will do the >job and >sure enough I got some of this white oil. I rub it all over the finger and >just massage it until my finger starts to peel off. Whew! I don't know what >white oil is but it's really good stuff. I use it all the time for pedal >squeaks and things like that. I'll ask my man where he get's it. The guy I >worked with used to mix it in a bottle and spray it when he couldn't find a >squeak. I don't do that, but I just keep squirtin' till it stops making noise. >Works! > So now it's 8:30 I only got two and a half octaves to go. I tell >the lady >I'll be done in about 45 minutes. She says great and asks if she could pay me >now so they could go to bed. Victory! Of course, I tell her. And then I let >her know I will do the "check up" for free. I finish tuning the piano in >about twenty minutes. Now most of the piano is at 440, but not all. > Question(s) Should I use more SG and tune it again on the free >check up? How >tight should the pins really be? I checked with my tourque wrench and all of >the pins go off the dial. Can they still slip even when I can't budge them? >What is the black stuff? What will remove it from the furniture if peroxide >doesn't work? > >Wayne S. >Central Florida > ___________________________ Avery Todd, RPT Experience is something you don't Moores School of Music get until just after you need it. University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-4893 713-743-3226 http://www.music.uh.edu/
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