Soundboards

[Farrell]

Ron: Actually, with this piano, the soundboard was the least of my gripes.
It had several really nasty "DINGS" (sounded like a church bell sounding off
when various notes were struck) in the central area of the keyboard. I tried
everything that the dealer & Steinway suggested. I had dealer techs try
their mumbojumbo, and I had Steinway concert techs from NY try to fix it
(most all 1098s have the same ding - Bostons also - and the Steinway guy
worked on another dinging 1098 to try & identify the ding source). The
Steinway guy thought it was likely a plate design flaw (I tend to agree). Oh
great. So, I dumped the dumpy little piano and traded it for a Boston
GP-178 - 5 yrs. old, about the same price, way better piano.

I would recommend the same course of action to any of my clients (assuming
trading up is an option).

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@KSCABLE.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: Soundboards


> >Sorry for the delay in my post here - been out of town for a couple days.
> >Just had to put my 2 cents in though, as my jaw still drops when I think
of
> >the following: I bought a NEW Steinway 1098 several years ago and upon
> >checking out the shape of the soundboard found it to have a REVERSE crown
to
> >the tune of over 1/4-inch. Piano didn't sound bad. I really started to
get
> >intrigued about pianos when I observed that the pinblock was pulling away
> >from the back frame! This problematic piano is what first got me
interested
> >in piano technology.
> >
> >Terry Farrell
>
>
> Hi Terry,
> It's not at all unusual with a lot of different brands of all ages to find
> soundboards in that condition. My policy is generally to leave it alone if
> the owner doesn't have complaints with the sound, regardless of how I
think
> it sounds. Sometimes they really don't sound bad at all. The thing that
> always disturbed me about this sort of thing is that often enough, the
> sound will get worse and worse until the customer does notice it, usually
> two years after the warranty expires, and will want to know why they
> weren't notified about it. They won't ask me that if they don't know that
I
> knew, but I did know and didn't tell them. Conversely, when the customer
> notices the sound early, and it's determined to be caused by the collapsed
> soundboard, I'm suddenly in a no pay, no win war with the manufacturer
> about what the problem really is. Only one manufacturer has ever believed
> me when I described a soundboard problem, the rest all wanted it to be
> something easier to fix. After the parade of manufacturer arranged techs
> who tune, voice, regulate, buff and exorcize first the piano, then the
> owner, and the dust finally settles, the sound problems are still there. I
> am naturally the bad guy then, since I initially diagnosed the problem (
> incorrectly, of course - it just CAN'T be the SOUNDBOARD!) and I declined
> to somehow make it go away for them quickly and cheaply, and thus cost
them
> a lot of money trying to patch up the problem I caused.
>
> So what does a tech do in these cases? If I don't mention problems to the
> customer, than I'm not doing them the service I feel they have coming for
> entrusting their instrument to me in the first place. If I do mention this
> type of problem, I'll spend all my time battling manufacturers for free
and
> starve to death. I can offer to battle the manufacturer at an appropriate
> rate of pay from the customer, but I've tried that and they universally
> feel that they shouldn't have to pay someone to make their warranty good.
I
> agree. Another option would be for me to be one, or all of the guys in the
> parade who tune, voice, etc, and soak the manufacturer for as much money
as
> I can get out of them going through the motions before I, reluctantly,
> decide that it must be the soundboard after all. This seems to be the most
> popular route, but I just can't do it when I know what the problem is
going
> in and could save everyone a lot of time and money if only...
>
> So that's a fairly accurate, if distasteful outline of your options with
> your piano. You can keep playing it, enjoy it, and hope for the best. It
> might actually never get to be a problem for you. Or you can alert the
> manufacturer, or dealer, and start the show. It might not be a bad idea to
> alert the dealer anyway, pre-conditioning him to the idea that you might
> have a warranty claim coming up some time before it expires - or not.
>
> Has anybody else got any suggestions for these situations? Hopefully one
> where the problem gets fixed.
>
>
>
> Ron N
>