A piano that's aging quickly

Piannaman@aol.com Piannaman@aol.com
Fri, 18 Feb 2005 01:03:12 EST


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Liszters, 
 
About a year and a half ago, I got a call from some people who were  deperate 
for a string replacement on their piano.  I set a date to come out  and do 
the job, as well as tune it.  They've been regular clients ever  since.  
 
The piano in question is a Kawai RX-3, around 4 years old.  The  teenage boy 
who plays it is a multi-competition winner, a very powerful  player.  At the 
last appointment in November, I told them that since they  aren't financially 
well off, I'd give them a good price for several hours of  much-needed 
maintenance.  Prior to calling me, they'd had a tuner who made  his real living as a 
teacher, and thus had 0 skills with other facets of piano  technology(and 
precious few skills as a tooner).  So the piano had been a  bit neglected.
 
Today I spent 4 hours at the house doing some regulation, lubrication, and  
tuning.  When I arrived, just about every part that could squeak did.   Several 
of the damper underlever leads had been knocked loose(an ongoing problem  
here) and were clacking.  What amazed me was the amount of wear in the  key 
bushings.  I've seen less play in pianos 50 years older!  
 
This 16 year old kid has put a lifetime of wear on a piano by playing it  the 
way he plays it for 2 hours a day every day of the year.  And he's  going to 
Rice next year to major in Bio-engineering...some people have all the  brains 
and talent!
 
I don't have that much experience with people who play this often with this  
much power.  Is it normal to wear out key bushings in less than 5  years?
 
Just wondering,
 
Dave Stahl
 
 

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