More Advice Sought for 100+ Year Old Bechstein

[Brian Lawson]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
Hi, Unless there has been some change to the legs, Bechstein's normally =
have a large wood screw, turned (lathed) as part of the leg - Column or =
round. Just twist and they come off

Brian



  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Billbrpt@AOL.COM=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 8:04 PM
  Subject: More Advice Sought for 100+ Year Old Bechstein


  List,=20

  The Man of La Mancha show now over (with guitar tuned to my specs) and =
the Chamber music series also concluded, I received a phone call today =
from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation director with the most laudatory =
comments I could have ever imagine from the musicians, one of the =
principal sponsors (with whom I had locked horns in the past over issues =
about what it *really* takes to prepare a piano for a concert) and =
Foundation members themselves who have known the sound of that piano for =
decades.=20

  I spent a total of 12 hours doing alignment, fine regulation and =
voicing plus 3 concert tunings, all for which I was paid my standard =
rate (yippee!).  I used the knowledge I had gained principally from the =
excellent teaching of Bill Garlick RPT and Scott Jones RPT at Steinway =
factory training seminars.=20

  The "sloppy" feel and limited dynamic range were due to too much =
aftertouch and just plain soft hammers.  The action had been set up with =
a maximally deep keydip of 7/16".  I went with that but filled in on it =
in final regulation to get uniform aftertouch which I set at the most =
minimum amount possible.  I set letoff as close as possible and gave it =
a very long blow distance.  Minimum let off, extra long blow and minimum =
aftertouch provided maximum power and dynamic range.=20

  I juiced the hammers with my usual keytop and acetone, right on top of =
the striking surface and nowhere else.  Yipes!!! you say?  Well, it =
always works for me.  The difference is that I use *extremely* light =
concentrations and avoid the left end of the striking surface which will =
strike the strings when the soft pedal is used.  I did a total of 5 =
applications and very lightly needled and scratched *between* the =
grooves for a maximum effect during soft pedaling.=20

  Obviously, the alignment and regulation must be very precise and even =
for this to work and that is what takes so much time.  The juicing =
itself couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes total.  These are =
techniques I learned at the Steinway factory.=20

  Now, it appears that the piano legs are weakening and the Fellowship =
wants me to accept a commission to repair them.  I usually think of =
myself primarily as a tuner who also does some occasional voicing and =
regulation work but my rebuilding days ended over 15 years ago.  I would =
like to take this job, however.  Any of the few area rebuilders would =
haughtily scoff at this job saying, "I'm too busy" and/or "I only work =
on Steinways".  That's how I got involved with these people to begin =
with, no one else would accept the challenges.=20

  They will pay me for my time and they have plenty of young men there =
who can help me get the piano on its side so the legs can be worked on.  =
>From what I gather, there are steel rods in the hollows of these legs =
but there has been some wear and tear which has made the rods loose.  I =
have heard of these rods being fixed by pouring in epoxy.  Any thoughts =
on this?  It has been many years since I worked with epoxy so I don't =
even know where to look for the kind I might need. Any experienced =
advice would be much appreciated.=20

  Bill Bremmer RPT=20
  Madison, Wisconsin=20
  Click here: -=3Dw w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =3D-=20

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/bf/cd/df/cf/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--