Yamaha C7 Pinblock Fit

Todd L. Mapes mapes_piano@worldnet.att.net
Thu, 11 Jan 2001 14:08:05 -0600


List,

A fellow technician who is not subscribed has asked me to pass a
question on to you for your wisdom.  Get your tissues out, it's a sad
story.

My friend was called to service a Yamaha C7 at a church.  He arrived on
Tuesday, and was told that the piano had been tuned on the previous
Friday (by a reputable tuner - tuner only, she doesn't do repair work -
that's why they called him).  He checked it out and all the unisons from
about midrange to the top were out and the tuning was just awful!  The
music minister said they've had it tuned every 2 weeks for the last 20
years!  They have never been happy with this piano and my friend was the
first to check the pinblock to flange fit.  Sure enough - huge gap in
the treble section between the plate and pinblock.  His question:  Would
it be worth his time and their money to try shimming the pinblock?  He
was really considering just sending it off to a rebuilder for a new
pinblock, as one of the previous quack techs who looked at it doped the
pinblock in hopes of solving the lack of tuning stability.  Another sad
point is that he thinks it's out of warranty now, and for sure since the
pinblock has been doped the warranty is void anyway.  If someone
competent had seen it early on, it could have been fixed by Yamaha at
their expense and saved this church tons of money in tuning fees over
the years.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Todd L. Mapes
PTG Associate Member
Fort Smith, AR




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