Victor console

[Stephen Powell]

Hello Clyde.  Nice to hear from you - I value your comments :-)

>Fascinating that you got a lot more response about being in a different
time
>zone than to your questions.

Yes, I was surprised.  Maybe I should email the List (if we still have
electricity!) and let everyone know what the new millenium is like, since we
in NZ will see it first!

> The one response you did get was from another tech
>in New Zealand.  It may be that few of us in the rest of the world have run
into
>Victor pianos; I know I've never seen one.  By the way it sounds I hope I
never
>do!  :-)


>From what I have heard and read, this type of piano is everywhere, just with
different names on the fallboard.

>As to the overtight tuning pins, does anyone have an answer for this?  I
hope
>so; I would like to know, too.  That is, short of removing them all and
reaming
>the holes or something like that.

That is the only remedy I know of, but I was hoping for some wisdom from the
List.

>I hate walking away from a piano leaving a problem unresolved.  Last
November I
>tuned 1961 Starck console that popped TWO single-wound strings for no
obvious
>reasons.  No strings had torn before, and the piano has received annual
service
>from me since 1990.  I really am afraid of the dumb thing and don't want to
ever
>see it again, but I feel a certain loyalty to the clients.  Rightly or
wrongly,
>I sidestepped the issue by not calling the client and moving the record
card to
>November, 2000.


Thanks for sharing this, Clyde.  Yes, the loyalty issues can be difficult.
I also find it uncomfortable when friends ask me what I think of their
lovely PSO!


>Clyde Hollinger, RPT
>Lititz, PA, USA
>3151


Stephen Powell
Auckland, NZ

>Stephen Powell wrote:
>
>> Hello List
>>
>> Would appreciate comments on the following situation that I found myself
in
>> yesterday:  New client with about a 6 yr old Victor (Korean or
Indonesian,
>> I'm not sure) that she has owned for 4 yrs and not had tuned.  Piano was
>> bought from a dealer who is no longer in business.  This horrible little
>> piano was about 15 cents flat.  Tone and overall quality of the
instrument
>> leaves a lot to be desired.  Anyway, I soon discovered that the pins were
so
>> tight that I could barely turn them and so pin flex was extreme.  After
>> attempting to tune for about 10 minutes, I decided that I had two
options:
>>     1. Wrestle with the piano for several hours and walk away feeling
>> uncomfortable with the quality of the tuning and the likely stability,
with
>> a sore arm!;
>>     2. Tidy up some of the unisons so the piano would sound a little
better,
>> take care of some misc. problems, and advise the client to trade the
piano
>> in for a better one.
>>
>> I chose option 2.  The client was disappointed to here about the problems
>> with the piano, but seemed to value my advise, and is looking at trading
it
>> in.  Thankfully she wasn't too keen on the look of the piano in this huge
>> house (pots of money!)
>>
>> Q. Do you think I did the right thing or should I have worked harder to
>> improve the PSO?  What if the piano had belonged to less affluent owners?
>> Q. Why are these  Asian (not Japanese) pianos coming out with such tight
>> tuning pins?  I just don't think the pins need to be nearly that tight.
Is
>> there an easy fix for over tight pins?  Thoughts?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Stephen Powell RPT
>> Auckland, NZ
>>
>> P.S.  Owners dog jumped all over me when she opened the front door.  I
>> really hate that.  Later damn dog grabbed something from my case and ran
and
>> hid under a bed!  They wrestled a packet of voicing needles out of it's
>> mouth.  I was wishing it would swallow them and leave me alone!! (I like
>> animals really!).
>
>