piano with 64 or 68 keys? .

[pianotune05]

Hi Everyone,
My wife  met someone yesterday while food shopping who wants her piano tuned.  I'm told that the piano has 64 or 68 keys.  She cannot recall exactly what the woman told her, and it was a piano made especially for kids.  What brand of spinit am I looking at tuning, and is there anything I need to know about it before I tune it?  Thanks again.
Marshall
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tom Sivak 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 12:59 AM
  Subject: Re: Upright damper work - newbie seeks opinions, please . . .


  Jim

  Why replace anything more than the felts?  Not sure what you meant by 'multiple wimpy dampers', but if the felts are coming unglued from the damper blocks, then it's time to replace the felts with new ones.  Hot hide glue is the glue of choice.  

  As far as what felts to use as replacements, check your Schaff or Pianotek catalog and try to match the existing damper felts.  You can buy a set of bass dampers that will have a preset number of monochord and bichord felts.  Compare that to the number of mono and bi strings on your Knabe.  (You can always buy extras if need be.)  Any set of treble dampers will have enough for your piano, but I usually try to duplicate the size of the existing dampers.  Some pianos have the same size damper felt for the entire treble, while others graduate from larger to smaller.  You can buy sets of either type.  

  The one area I might stray from the original design is in the lower trichords.  If the set of dampers you've bought has any trichord wedges, I'd use them even if the original damper layout used exclusively flats for the trichords.  There a little harder to align to the string so that they dampen all three strings equally but once aligned, they do a much better job of muting the strings than the flats.  

  I like to glue the new damper felts on the damper blocks while the action is in the piano, especially for the mono and bichord wedges.  By gluing the new felt on the damper block while the action is in the piano, the new felt seats itself against the strings naturally, and results in having to make fewer adjustments after the glue has dried.  Just lift the damper lever, put the felt (with glue on its back) on the block, and release the lever; the damper spring will firmly keep the felt in place, but still allow it to move slightly from side to side as it finds its natural position between the strings.

  I hope that answered your question...  

  Good luck,
  Tom Sivak
  Chicago

  James H Frazee <jimfrazee at msn.com> wrote:
    It's a 1957 Knabe console with multiple wimpy dampers coming unglued.  Should I replace just the felts or the entire damper assembly and, if so [either way], which/whose should I use.  I realize my times will be about double what JG's Labor Guide says but I want to do it right because it's a regular client and nice lady.  Thanks in advance.


    Jim Frazee
    914.763.8689
    Offlist at:  jimfrazee at msn.com

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