Dear Bill, Thank you for your constructive and very valid criticism. In my defense, I should point out that I am not a piano technician, but very interested in your exciting profession which I consider 'Surgery of the Piano'. The arrival of the piano tuner/technician in my home, was always anticipated with great joy, as it is in most people who really play the piano, rather than using it in their living room as a piece of furniture. There is an improvement of the quality and joy of life of every pianist, professional or amateur, between these visits. I am retired and presently a semiprofessional concert pianist. I have two pianos. A Yamaha C7, in superb shape, and a six foot Bluthner built in 1911. The Bluthner was my 8th anniversary present from my father in 1945. It traveled across the ocean, and found it's place in the family room of the lower level of my house. It's action is ancient, and I believe that it is a modification of the old Erard actions. Since I bought the C7 Yamaha in 1980, I practically did not touch the Bluthner until two years ago. To my surprise, I found great pleasure in playing again on this old action, after playing for 20+ years exclusively on my wonderful newer Yamaha. However the piano was out of tune, and the action very light, and uneven. Since my regular piano tuner and technician, a lovely talented man passed on from a rare form of laryngeal cancer, and since I had plenty of time to spare, I decided to learn to tune and regulate my pianos myself. I got the excellent Yamaha Video on Regulating the Yamaha Grand in 37 steps, and Reblitz's book on Piano rebuilding, etc. It took me however a good while to find the page on the internet (from Bluthner) on how to regulate this ancient action. Gradually and slowly I replaced all the leather parts (of the 'abstract', a term used by Bluthner for what corresponds to the 'nuckle' in the Renner mechanism), the key bushings, center pins etc. The bass chords were corroded, I unhooked them, coiled them to loosen the corrosion, and cleaned them with wool wire, allowing them to regain their beautiful sound. I also got a Cybertuner, and raised the pitch gradually to A440, and since I practice a lot on it, I continue tuning it at least once a month. I have stabilized the environment (especially the humidity keeping it stable as much as I can between 40 and 50). Finally in a most unscientific way, and a way that could not be used except in one's own piano discreetly I made the touch firmer by the methods described above. The old Bluthner mechanism does not have any aftertouch, the jack is released as soon as the key is pressed. (unlike the Yamaha C7). This does not make it at all feel like a weighted keyboard electronic piano as one might expect, in the contrary it gives it a very sensitive and pleasant touch albeit a little less rapid than the Renner mechanism. Therefore the action regulation concerns only the 'touch'. Concerning the weights, I did get a set of weights from my piano parts supplier, but they totaled only 52 gms, and this was the reason I used the nail polish bottles to go up to 60 gms. I could have done this from the beginning. As far as using a heavy or medium size nail taped to the shaft longitudinally with masking tape, it is very reliable and effective if one forgives the fact that it looks a bit funny. It can be done and undone quickly, and may serve as a substitute if no clips are available. It works as well. I could not find a place on the internet to order the clips needed to clip on the shank, otherwise I would have done it. The Bluthner piano sound is now wonderful, (even more beautiful than the Yamaha) except for a rather weak bass section, because of it's 6 foot size. I am attaching a PDF on this email with instructions for regulating the old Bluthner action. It includes a picture of the action, that may prove interesting to any technician faced with the task of rebuilding/regulating a similar old (pre Renner) action. Finally as a retired Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, I apologize for addressing a professional group of RPTs, and mentioning some of my primitive ideas. I should add that I enjoy very much reading your emails, as I learn a lot. I am planning to attend again the NAMM show in Los Angeles in two months, to learn as much as I can, while trying the pianos. Last year I met at the show Paolo Fazioli, was very impressed with his pianos, and used one in a recital I gave in Paris last May. All the best, Stephen C. Papastephanou On 11/16/06 5:30 PM, "William R. Monroe" <pianotech at a440piano.net> wrote: > Oh My, > > Where to begin? As this is a list for technicians exchanging ideas and > information regarding piano technology, I would suggest that these ideas may > be a bit out of place. > > The nail idea, valid in a way, would be (perhaps) more appropriate if there > were a decent way to attach the nails. Masking tape, holding nails on in > the action is a disaster waiting. Instead, why not use the clips, as > suggested before, or, better yet, get some lead and add it to the hammer > molding. > > Adding felt to achieve premature engagement of the damper underlevers, > again, valid in a way, is not really addressing the problem properly. Now > you have to raise the upstop rail to compensate for the added lift by the > key. Just gets worse....... > > As far as the nail polish containers go, must I? Please just buy a decent > set of gram weights so you don't have to recalibrate every time you use > them. > > If you are getting paid to work on pianos, you should reasonably be expected > to have appropriate tools and information. If you're fiddling with your own > piano, do whatever you want, but don't complain when you hire a technician, > and they charge you to undo your work and then do proper work. > > AND, none of these may be the proper fix for Brett's situation. He really > needs to do some basic diagnostics first (UW, DW, BW at least). > > Best, > William R. Monroe > > >> Some easy to accomplish suggestions to correct a light touch. >> >> 1) An easy and quick way to increase the weight of the hammers, is to tape >> a >> large nail with masking tape on top of the shaft, with the head almost >> touching the hammer. >> I did this on my Bluthner, and increased the weight of the hammers (as >> weighed individually with an electronic scale used for mail) from 0.3, to >> 0.4 ounces. >> A smaller nail can be used as this is quite a drastic increase. >> The resulting touch was much heavier. However this put a lot of strain on >> the repetition spring, changing the touch too much, and because of this I >> decided to undo it. The whole process can be done, and undone very >> quickly, >> and the resulting weight increase measured accurately. >> >> 2) I elected instead to tape a piece of thin felt (from a sheet with >> adhesive backing costing .99/sheet in any crafts store), in the back of >> each >> key, on the damper lever key cushion, (at the point where it raises the >> dampers), in a way that the dampers are lifted almost immediately as one >> presses the key, thus giving a beautiful firm touch to the action, by >> using >> the weight of the dampers thus increasing the resistance and resulting in >> a >> heavier touch. >> >> As far as measuring the key resistance with weights, the easiest way to do >> it, is to use a small bottle of woman's nail polish that would fit on top >> of >> a key, after weighing it and removing or adding polish to the desired >> weight. One can prepare two or more bottles with a premeasured desired >> weight. >> >> Stephen Papastephanou > > > > -- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/octet-stream Size: 157026 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20061117/1808f229/attachment-0001.obj
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