Phone messasge about S&S

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Jim,
           How come you never post any easy ones?
Cheek blocks not tight with this type of pedal gymnastics, scary?????????????
If the sostenudo is partially engaged, the tabs can really hit the bar, add
to that a loose fitting frame it would be possible to jamb the tab to the
point that the damper wire will bend forward.
This will lead to some very leaky dampers, we all know what 2 or 3 leaky
dampers can sound like, Yuk!
Have the customer remove the music desk, and lightly touch the strings or
dampers to see if you have a damper problem.
Have the customer firmly strike and release each note, staccato style, and
listen for over ring, this will give you a clue, or rule out a problem.
Repeat the process with a slow release, looking for a clean shut off.
Are there dag adjustment screws on this model? Why did you leave the cheek
blocks loose, is the hardware badly worn? 
If using the unacorda with loose blocks and no dag adjustment screws, the
action may want to slide back in to the drawer in operation and cause some
jambing, hence damper problems.
Clear like mud.
Roger



At 08:02 PM 20/11/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello list. I need your ideas.
>
>Sorry to interrupt this beautiful fall weekend. I normally don't
>participate in the [after-the-fact] puzzlers that are presented here,
>mainly because the resulting guesses take up so much bandwidth, and the
>writer already knows the answer to the puzzle. This is the other kind --
>client far away, and limited information is known at the moment. So, I'm
>presenting the situation, along with my thoughts, and reaching out for
>other possibilities...
>
>Verbatim phone message heard tonight, including almost non-existent verbal
>pauses:
>"Hi Jim, this is <client> calling. There's something terribly wrong with
>the Steinway to the point where it's really not even playable but it's some
>kind of horrible buzzing sound on many of the keys and it... it almost
>sounds like there's a note sounding through but it's out of tune
>[translation: the note or sound, not the piano] and it certainly isn't the
>one I'm striking; so I don't know what's wrong but it's awful. Thanks. Bye.
>
>Note the panic superlatives... "terribly", "horrible", "awful".
>
>My return call to the client, prior to writing this message, netted -her-
>answering machine. While waiting for a "live" person to gather more
>details, I've had the following thoughts about questions and possible
>remote tests. I'd like any other suggestions to consider for remote
>diagnosis, because I really don't want to drive 300 miles round-trip to
>extract a pencil! <g>
>
>Information about the client/piano:
>* 1961 S&S 'L' ;
>* Has C/C system;
>* Tuned every three months;
>* Tuned and random single note voicing last week;
>* Tuning is rock steady except for an occasional unison, at worst 3~5c
>change across seasons, according to my records.
>* Client is a teacher, and picky. Everything becomes an emergency (claims
>tuning is bad when one unison has drifted... which is why I make sure the
>tuning is steady).
>
>Possible phone questions to client, based on phone message:
>Q: When did this start?
>Q: Is it constant, or intermittent?
>Q: Can phenomenon be duplicated?
>Q: Occurs with or without any pedal activity?
>Q: Any lessons involving sostenuto work this past week? (See additional
below]
>Q: Which area (bass, treble, all) affected?
>Q: Certain specific notes, or global?
>Q: [your ideas?]
>
>Possible suggestions for the client to try to isolate condition:
>* Exercising shift (unacorda) pedal up and down about six times without
>playing;
>* Quickly and lightly drag (upside down) fingernail across strings a couple
>octaves at a time;
>* [your ideas?]
>
>Possibly important:
>Client has recently been teaching one or more advanced students a pedal
>technique involving using ALL three pedals (holding down shift with left
>foot, and diagonally reaching across to sostenuto... or something like
>that. I can't personally get my feet in that position, but this sounds like
>a potential area of trouble considering the S&S sostenuto system.
>
>My thoughts, based on track record and condition of piano:
>* Keyframe guide plate(s) worn, or have shifted (not likely);
>* I left cheekblocks loose last week after minor voicing (NOT);
>* Hammer spacing shifted (not likely);
>* Damper is stuck on sostenuto tab; piano is ghosting;
>* A pencil or other object really did get in soundboard area (never
>happened before);
>* Dampp-Chaser component vibrating (never happened before);
>* Above-mentioned 3-pedal work, causing -something- to get
>stuck/bent/misaligned... but what?
>
>Whatever this turns out to be, it -will- be something simple. Thanks for
>any ideas that I've not considered.
>
>
>
>
>Jim Harvey, RPT
>Greenwood, SC
>harvey@greenwood.net
>________________________
>I'm glad it's not my piano!
>              -- Richard Davenport (date unknown)
> 
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505