Dopey to dope?

Clyde Hollinger cedel@supernet.com
Fri, 31 Oct 2003 06:32:30 -0500


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Julie,

Recently a church called me about tuning their three pianos.  I haven't
been there yet.  The chief musician said they are thinking of replacing
the sanctuary piano because they have trouble keeping it in tune.  There
may indeed be a structural problem, but one thing I will consider is
whether it is simply the seasonal humidity fluctuations.  If that is the
case, a new piano won't solve the problem.

I remember having a Kawai grand once with loose tuning pins.  Since
there was plenty of space between the coils and the plate, I braced up
the pinblock and tapped down all the tuning pins, just enough so I could
see them move.  I was delighted that, having done this, the pins
tightness was great, and I avoided contaminating the pinblock with
Garfield's or CA, something I like to keep for low-value pianos, or as a
last resort before repalcing the pinblock.

My experience is that "doping" lasts much longer than for one tuning,
assuming it was effective to start with.

When to repin calls for considering several factors.  Is the piano worth
the expense?  Is the customer able and willing to pay?  Have less
expensive alternatives been exhausted?  How loose are the tuning pins?
If they won't hold the pitch, then something should be done, but I
wouldn't do anything if they hold but just have less torque than
desirable.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT

Alpha88x@aol.com wrote:

> Greetings,
>
>             I have a lady I am going to see Monday who has a Kawaii
> grand that she claims will not hold a tuning. I never doped a pinblock
> before. If upon inspection the pins are loose, should I dope. Is this
> an unwise move?
>
>              I hear  that doping only lasts for one tuning and then
> the obvious is inevitable, which I hear is a re-pin job. How loose
> must pins be to sanction a re-pinning?
>
> Thanx,
> Julie
>

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