explanation(s), please

[Willem Blees]

Annie

On the?offending strings/pins, did the strings go way flat, or did the pins turn? If the pins turned, then the block is shot. Just because the pins might feel tight, doesn't mean the block is bad. And just the smallest movement will cause them to go south. 

If the pins stayed, but the string went flat, then you have a plate problem. One way to see if the plate is cracked is to measure the blow distance. Check blow distance of note 88, and compare it with the one of the notes in the 6th octave. Assuming the hammer line is level, if the plate is cracked, and the middle is pushing up, then the blow distance will be greater. 

On an old piano like this, advice the customer that this is a serious problem, and the piano needs to be removed, ASAP, because it could explode, and cause a great deal of damage and injury if anyone is close to the piano. 



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


-----Original Message-----
From: Annie Grieshop <annie at allthingspiano.com>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 5:29 am
Subject: explanation(s), please



A small Brambach grand did something yesterday that has left me bamboozled.
I'd appreciate any information, suggestions, advice....

When I got there, the piano was surprisingly well in tune, considering its
overall condition.  Two trichords in the 6th octave (below the break) were
playing chords, but the rest was pretty OK.

I pulled one of the offending notes into tune, and almost immediately one
string went "BANG" and dropped pitch, taking the other with it.  I pulled it
back up -- no, it had not broken -- and then both of them did the same thing
(big BANG, very flat).  I've had that happen after treating pins with CA
glue, but never before, and I hadn't treated any of them at that point.  (I
did later, but it didn't have much effect.)

Here's the part that really confuses me:  after that happened, one string of
a 2nd octave bichord went terribly flat on its own AND a cluster of four
trichords just above the break in the 6th octave also spontaneously went
horribly awry.  I had not touched any of them.........

The plate does not appear to be cracked, and I didn't find anything else
that looked particularly suspicious.  What am I missing here (other than the
chance to call the trash collectors and get the thing hauled away)?  Thanks!

Annie Grieshop



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