stumped

[John Ross]

Another question re pins. Why are #2 pins used in a new block?
Wouldn't it make more sense to use #1.
I have always used the #2 in a new pinblock.
I have a mini piano I am putting a block in, and I am using #1 pins. #1 had been used initially.
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Willem Blees 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 1:42 PM
  Subject: Re: stumped




  -----Original Message-----
  From: pianolover 88 <pianolover88 at hotmail.com>
  To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
  Sent: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 7:47 pm
  Subject: RE: stumped


  <<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


  He could also have drilled the pins too fast, or with a dull bit. He probably tried 2/0, but found them too loose. Or he just didn't know what he was doing.



  Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
  Piano Tuner/Technician
  Honolulu, HI
  Author of 
  The Business of Piano Tuning
  available from Potter Press
  www.pianotuning.com




  > 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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