Need to find someone who can repair a broken plate

[Christopher Witmer]

I cannot point to any clear cause of the plate break. The piano was 
never dropped that I know of, but it may have been dropped at some point 
without my knowledge. At the time the plate broke it had been sitting in 
the same spot for years and had been maintained by one of Japan's best 
tuner/technicians. I suspect there was a defect -- or at least the 
potential for a defect to develop -- in the plate from the very 
beginning, perhaps exacerbated by other factors over time. I heard that 
the manufacturer had been experiencing problems with their plate 
supplier, but I don't know if the problems were related to quality or 
something unrelated (such delivery time issues, etc.). In any case, even 
if the problem was inherent in the plate from the time of manufacture, I 
am aware that no brand of piano is immune to such problems. It is just a 
sad fact of life when dealing with cast iron.

But when it happens to one's only piano -- one that the owner can't 
afford to replace -- suddenly harpsichords, fortepianos and other 
keyboard instruments that don't go "Bang!" in the middle of night start 
to look a lot more appealing!

Chris Witmer
Tokyo

Calin Tantareanu wrote:

 > Hi,
 >
 > How did the plate break? Was the piano dropped or something?
 >
 > Calin Tantareanu
 >
 > > -----Original Message-----
 > > From: Christopher Witmer
 > > Sent: joi, 25 mai 2006 17:05
 > > Subject: Need to find someone who can repair a broken plate