stumped

[pianolover 88]

<<Why in the world 
would anyone put 3/0 pins in a new block???>>

>From what I gather, the "technician" who did the "rebuild" probably was just too lazy to order smaller pins, or was grossly under-prepared and that's the smallest sozed pins he had at the moment. Or...because there might be less "flagpolling" since Steinway grands don't have tuning pin bushings.

Terry Peterson

> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 23:36:35 -0600
> From: rnossaman at cox.net
> To: l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net; pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: stumped
> 
> Leslie Bartlett wrote:
> > I tuned (no I really didn't) for "Dennis" today- and old Howard (sn 
> > 220***- for which I didn't find a reasonable match in Pierce's). The 
> > retired engineer had married a Russian lady, young enough to be his 
> > daughter- and nicely I made that mistake.  Bass strings were dead, 
> > multiple bridge cracks, the strings painted gold, several replaced, 
> > about six pins in the center where a tiny amount of counterclockwise 
> > pressure sent the string a half or whole tone flat. They also popped 
> > loudly when they let loose- like Baldwin, only it was virtually no 
> > useful tension on the pin.  There were a couple pins up around note 80 
> > which were the same way.  Hammer 88 was within 1mm of having the  felt 
> > open up at the bottom of the grooves on the flat-topped hammers.  
> > Problem was, the man had bought this as a birthday present for this wife 
> > who is a HIGH level concert player while she was out of the country.     
> > I was there over four hours, so mad that they guy had gotten screwed (I 
> > believe the damage was done before prior owner sold it to him- she 
> > wasn't a player, so bought it mostly as furniture), and that I couldn't 
> > make a decent tuning.  The Russian asked if I had ever tuned a piano 
> > like this before……………………….       I pulled the action and went through 
> > everything with him, and he seemed more than satisfied that little if 
> > anything could be done- but the wife- I think she wanted me dead. 
> > 
> > When and HOW does one just give up on a POS when nothing works?  This 
> > really bothered me.  I've tuned Howards before and hated them, but got 
> > them tuned.  Nothing rendered decently, nothing stayed stable for me.  
> > I've never had anything quite like this before, and hope I never do again.
> > 
> > They can't afford another piano, though their house was probably valued 
> > at twice mine, and they had two rather new cars (Honda an Buick) I 
> > think.      I'm coming off a week of three Houston Symphony Tunings, 
> > another major Hall, two tunings of the most expensive piano in town, and 
> > directing two performances of the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors.   
> > I know I was tired………  But I had just done quite ok on a Petrof for one 
> > of my really persnickety customers, so I haven't completely lost my 
> > "tuning mind".  I'm mad they got screwed, mad she can't play musically 
> > on this pos, but still feel somehow I should have been able to do 
> > something to make it work.   Sorry to be kind of nuts here, but I'm 
> > feeling kind of lost.
> > 
> > les bartlett
> > 
> 
> It doesn't matter what they just did, or someone else just 
> did, or what anyone's intentions and expectations may be. The 
> bottom line is the current condition of the piano and what can 
> be done with it at what price to meet performance 
> expectations. That's it. It doesn't realistically get any more 
> complicated than that without your sanction.
> 
> Case in point: Some months ago, I looked at a piano (Steinway 
> L) that had been "rebuilt", but had a number of insupportable 
> problems which prompted the call to me to look at it. I find 
> touch weights in the mid 70s, and one of the more dramatic and 
> extensive killer octave manifestation I've seen in all the 
> years I've been in business. The soundboard is, of course, 
> original and "repaired".
> 
> The plate seems to have been dipped in a glaringly copper 
> colored goo, which is flaking off in large chunks. The 
> thinnest loose chunk I found was 0.75mm thick.
> 
> Downbearing was from 1°+ in the tenor, to -2.5° in the high 
> treble, with negative crown through the top half of the scale.
> 
> The pinblock was new, with new 3/0 pins! Why in the world 
> would anyone put 3/0 pins in a new block???
> 
> Bottom line is that the money they spent on the previous 
> rebuild was not only wasted, but actually did damage. This 
> instrument is the source of evening therapy for the owner, and 
> hasn't delivered anything but misery since it was "rebuilt". 
> To finally get around to where this is going, I could have 
> done a grand or two worth of regulation and voicing to try and 
> minimize the wretchedness of this piano, but would have just 
> further screwed the poor guy in doing so, in my estimation. 
> Sure, I felt sorry for him, but there wasn't anything real I 
> could do to help without buying the problem myself. So I did 
> the hard thing and told and showed him (as I could) in painful 
> detail what was done, what wasn't done, what should have 
> minimally been done, and what was possible. He ultimately went 
> for what was possible, and the piano came in today for a 
> redesign and remanufacture. After all the misery, and all the 
> money wasted, I hope and fully expect to supply him with a 
> happy ending. I intend to give it my best shot.
> 
> So here's the deal. The situation that was set up before you 
> became involved isn't your fault or problem. It's also not 
> your problem to come up with a fix that's contrary to reality. 
> If it takes doing over, that's what it takes. If the customer 
> won't accept that, they are free to put themselves on the 
> plate of the next bottom feeder in line. There are plenty to 
> accommodate. Meanwhile, you maintain supportable standards and 
> credibility, and minimize losing projects.
> 
> Ain't no free lunch.
> 
> Ron N

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