Czech, please

[Paul McCloud]

I attended a seminar at Geneva a few years ago.  They recognized that the Petrof hammers were too hard (petrofied??), and were fitting the new models with a softer variety.  This was back in 2005.  I'm not sure what's happened since then.  
    Paul McCloud
    San Diego


----- Original Message ----- 
From: 
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: 12/13/2007 6:49:38 AM 
Subject: Re: Czech, please


Hi Ron and Ric,

I tune several Petrofs, and have found them to become quite stable tuning-wise over a period of time.  Three are uprights, and one is a grand.  The grand hasn't been in my care for a long enough time to offer long-term impressions.  

I was not the first tuner for any of them, so I'm not sure if they've been voiced by the previous tech or not.  I like the soft tone them, though.  A nice piano to tune at the end of the day...

Have not had huge issues yet, but little hardware nickle/dime things like rubber grommets on the mute rail (upright) and the screw that holds it in place etc.  

They do well with home use, they might be hurtin' in an institutional setting.



Dave Stahl, RPT
Dave Stahl Piano Service
dstahlpiano.net




-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Brekne <ricb at pianostemmer.no>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:48 pm
Subject: Czech, please


Hi Ron 
 
Your post perfectly describes my own perception of Petrofs... and, I think... the basic reason they have been so very popular items in Europe for years and years. Their basic sound is actually quite ok. Despite a very sloppy action, false beats galore (unbelievable amounts in some examples) in the treble, bass string unisons that just do not work together at all, squisshy tuning pins... bridge pins all over the place (my first attempt at notching and pining came out better then the average Petrof I see).... despite all this and more when reasonably well regulated, voiced and tuned they leave one feeling with a fairly positive impression. I have had a love hate affair with them for as long as I have known about them. 
 
I will say this tho... IME unless a Petrof recieves rather frequent TLC from a good tech... they will deteriorate quite quickly performance wise. 
 
One other interesting bit on their soundboards.... They taper their SB flitches a bit before gluing them together so that the flitches are less wide in the middle then at their ends. Strange.. .but they have some R&D stuff that clearly supports a performance enhancement in doing so. Its been a few years since I saw that presentation at the Nordic... but I can try and get the details if anyone is interested. I suspect tho.. that because of their reliance on a C&C board type after some years of even a reasonable climate this gets lost in the wash. 
 
Cheers 
RicB 
 
  After waking to a cold dark house courtesy of last night's 
  local ice storm, I spent a couple of hours + today with the 
  second call on the only Petrof I've serviced. Did an hour and 
  a half of regulation touch up, and voicing down the rock 
  hammers, followed by tuning and further voicing touch up. 
  Altogether on the high side of average, I'd say. One of the 
  complaints presented this trip was the low tenor honk, which 
  some needling and Vise-Grip mass loading indicated could be 
  made tolerable. Next tuning, I'll bring the means and we'll 
  kick brass. I didn't much like the feel of the pinblock, and 
  the bridge pins were already producing false beats, but aside 
  from these standard features (and the near universal rock 
  hammers), I am favorably impressed. I've seen a whole lot of 
  new pianos that were a whole lot worse, which is an 
  endorsement you can build whole ad campaigns on these days. 
  It'll be interesting to follow the deterioration rate of the 
  thing through the years. 
 
  Ron N 
 



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