tuning lever tips

[John Ross]

What do you guys do, to use up tips? I am still using the Hale one I
got from Tuner's Supply, 20+ years ago. My older hammer, I got from an
old piano tuner, with a selection of tips, they were also Hale ones
from Tuners Supply.
I thought APSCO, got all the Tuners Supply stuff, and I assume this
would have also been the original specs of the tips. Now Schaff should
have them.
Since we are the people buying tips, and hammers, can't we demand a
better product.
Buying tips in quantity, sounds nonsensical to me, I just wouldn't buy
tips  of that obviously inferior quality. They would think they were
doing it right, since they were so popular.
Regards,
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia.
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles E. Faulk" <cfaulk2@juno.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 12:45 PM
Subject: tuning lever tips


| Greg and list,
|
| I can understand some disdain over many of the commercial tuning
tips
| available on the market today. I thought I might relate some of my
| experiences buying multiple tips over the years.
|
| A little more than three years ago, I started buying tips in lots of
ten
| hoping to come up with a few I could use. Back then I was buying
APSCO
| tips (#2's). I would average about four usable tips out of each lot.
| About a year and a half I got in a lot and had to send them all
back;
| they wobbled and tilted so badly I couldn't tune at all with them.
| Ironically after I spoke to John Schadler , he replaced them all
with
| Schaff #2 tips!
|
| So then I started buying Schaff #3's ... ten at a time. Again I
could
| count on finding maybe three or four usable tips per lot. Kind of
| expensive way to go but necessary. Just last Wednesday I got in a
set of
| four Schaff tips and ,much to my surprise, all four were keepers. I
| genuinely hope it was more than luck.
|
| I purchased only one Wantanabe tip a few years ago. The opening was
so
| small it hardly covered the tuning pin half way to the becket. It
also
| wobbled and tilted badly.  I sent it back. One is not a very good
sample,
| and I understand others use them with success.
|
| By the way  the only way I've found to accurately test a tuning tip
is to
| put it on a lever and sample at least a dozen tuning pins on a given
| piano (usually whatever I'm rebuilding at the time).  It will come
as no
| surprise to anyone that tuning pins are even more inconsistent than
| tuning tips. My ideal of a good tuning tip is no side play and no
| tilting; I have a few that come close including some older Hale tips
I
| guard carefully.
|
| Finding quality tuning lever tips is an ongoing problem, something I
wish
| the supply industry would tackle. I'd gladly pay three or four times
the
| price if the tips would work. I'd love to get in touch with this
German
| supplier, SOLE. Anyone have an address?
|
| Just a few thoughts.
|
| Charles Faulk
|
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