some days you get what you ask for

[Michael Gamble]

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Oh! Yes John. I live near Lewes in Sussex where, on Bonfire Night (Nov.5th)
the burgers of Lewes all dress up in costumes and parade through that
ancient town with brass and silver marching bands and blazing torches. It's
quite a sight. Maybe one year I'll have a blazing piano mounted on a "float"
and have it towed through the town - and thrown into the river afterwards.
Anyone got any ideas of what piano deserves such an end? (I plump for an
Eavestaff pianette) :-)

Regards

Michael G.(UK)

 

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From: John Delmore [mailto:jodel@kairos.net] 
Sent: 03 October 2005 18:02
To: 'Pianotech'
Subject: RE: some days you get what you ask for

 

Just be sure not to let the torch singe your hair!!  (Couldn't resist!  Same
as the wrest pin/tuning pin, I'm sure you know that, across the pond, a
torch is a stick with fire on the end!)

 

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From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Gamble
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 12:41 PM
To: Piannaman@aol.com; pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: RE: some days you get what you ask for

 

Yes, Dave,

That was some day for you. I always try to repair broken bass strings
whenever possible, even if it means cutting back the windings on the
speaking length and making my gnott there. I find it works for maybe the
knot replaces the missing mass of copper. I did that on one-of-a-pair of
bass strings in an old Bluthner upright (vertical) and there was no
mis-match - isn't that something? As for treble pairs - again I try repair
by "pulling it round". Of course this can only be done if the break occurs
at the wrest pin (sorry, tuning pin). I keep the string on the hitch by
using a mini vise-clamp or even a surgical clamp (Joe G <G> gave it another
name, but I've forgotten). My light frequently comes from a torch held in
the teeth! Yummy!

Regards from the failing light of a cloudy evening in The Village.

Michael G.(UK)

 

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From: Piannaman@aol.com [mailto:Piannaman@aol.com] 
Sent: 03 October 2005 05:40
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: some days you get what you ask for

 

List,

 

Friday was certainly an interesting day on the job.  First piano was an old
Erhard upright, a nice old box made in 1919, pretty good shape.  It had a
broken high treble string on it, which I'd been aware of, and I replaced it
no problem.

 

Next piano, Acrosonic, circa 1950s.  Pitch raise, twang, G#2 wound bicord
snapped. A perfect candidate for one of the universal bass strings a lug
around.  As usual, spinning off excess copper was the most time consuming
part of this job.  Again, no real problem.

 

I was thinking about how much I've improved in various repairs, thanks to
many tips gleaned from this list and elsewhere in the PTG.  This type of
repair was once something I dreaded, now it's just something I do in the
line of duty.  "But," I told myself, "don't get cocky.  How long's it been
since you've replaced a long wire in an understrung section of a piano?"  It
had been awhile.

 

Which brings me to the next piano:  Steinway, a regular client, a nemesis
piano that always finds a way to lengthen the appointment beyond an
acceptable length.  A 1915 or so M re-whatevered badly a couple of decades
ago.  I was hoping for the best, but it was the usual 8-10 cent late-summer
pitch raise.  No problem, at least until I got to A3.  Twang.  The A#3-A3
wire snapped.  Went to the car, got stringing stuff including tube to get
string onto hitch pin.  In the failing light of the day, I got the job done,
but time would have been saved had I brought in my shop light so I could see
better to route the wire through the bridge pins.

 

The upside:  3 strings on the day, no bloody finger tips.

 

The weirdness:  Haven't had a string break in a few months.  Why did they
all gang up on me on one day???

 

Tip #1:  putting some tension on the wire makes it MUCH easier to get the
string placed properly around the bridge pins in the understrung areas.  

 

Tip #2:  Lighting is a good thing when doing this sort of job!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Dave Stahl


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