This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment You'll be doing MacDonald's out of business with all those fancy burgers = floating around, or do you mean "burghers"? Anon ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Michael Gamble=20 To: 'John Delmore' ; 'Pianotech'=20 Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 7:13 PM Subject: RE: some days you get what you ask for 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) J Regards Michael G.(UK) =20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- From: John Delmore [mailto:jodel@kairos.net]=20 Sent: 03 October 2005 18:02 To: 'Pianotech' Subject: RE: some days you get what you ask for =20 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!) =20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- 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 =20 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) =20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- From: Piannaman@aol.com [mailto:Piannaman@aol.com]=20 Sent: 03 October 2005 05:40 To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: some days you get what you ask for =20 List, =20 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. =20 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. =20 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. =20 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. =20 The upside: 3 strings on the day, no bloody finger tips. =20 The weirdness: Haven't had a string break in a few months. Why did = they all gang up on me on one day??? =20 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. =20 =20 Tip #2: Lighting is a good thing when doing this sort of job! =20 Thanks for reading, =20 Dave Stahl ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/a3/bd/89/8e/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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