tuning player pianos

[Jon Page]

At 09:46 AM 12/27/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Steve Borgstrom's question brings to mind a question I've been meaning to ask:
>
>I'm hesitant to remove player actions when I tune them.  I generally tune
>them with the player mechanism in the piano, which needless to say, is a pain
>in the...back.
>
>I do it this way for two reasons, one fairly good reason, and one not-so-good
>reason:
>
>#1, I understand that the rubber hoses or tubes can be fragile and break
>easily.
>#2, I don't really know how to remove the player mechanism.
>
>I guess if this came up more often I would have dealt with it,  but so far
>I've only had to tune maybe 3 or 4 of these monsters.  I don't want to do any
>harm to the client's  piano, so I just suffer through them.
>
>Without writing a treatise on the subject, is there anyone who could direct
>me in the correct way to remove of a player mechanism?  (Perhaps there are
>too many different kinds to answer this question.)
>
>Tom S

First off,  have the customer play a roll to make sure that it works.
You don't want to here, "Well it worked before you tuned it".

There is no reason to remove the player stack unless there is a string to 
replace or action repair.
The only item to remove to make the tuning easier is the wind motor. There 
is only one one 1/2"
or 5/8" hose to remove and a ladder chain, then remove the four screws 
which fasten it to the deck.

If action repairs are needed you may want to refer the job to someone 
familiar with players.
You don't want to bite off a bigger can of worms than you can chew.

Regards,

Jon Page,   piano technician
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass.
mailto:jonpage@attbi.com
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