Mason and Hamlin A, circa 1909: What to do with loose tuning pins inbass...

[Ed Sutton]

The January Journal has an article appropriate to this topic, including CA 
pinblock repair methods. We tested the string restoration method on an old 
upright and got good results beyond expectations. The January issue is 
posted on the PTG website.

You might find a signature and date (birthday!) hidden on the back side of 
the damper upstop rail on early 20th century Masons.  Just pull the dampers 
and unscrew the rail....

Ed Sutton



Hi All,

I worked on a 1909 M and H today, and the piano was in almost pristine 
condition.? It is an absolutely wonderful piano.? The action plays great, 
hammers are in excellent shape, the strings have very few "false" beats.? 
The only problem is the pinblock.? The wire sections are okay, but the bass 
has probably 20 loose pins.? Most of the low bass pins are loose.

I would like to remedy this.? Even though it should be able to hold tune for 
the short term, they won't be stable for any length of time.? Here are the 
choices as I see them:

1).? CA that section of block.? I really don't want to do this on this 
particular piano, even though it would be the quickest fix.?

2).? Replace bass tuning pins.? This is a good option, imho, with the 
drawback being brittle beckets breaking (say that ten times in a row....).? 
Replacing individual strings on a piano of this age will compromise the even 
and beautiful tone that the piano has.? Tying broken strings with thick 
cores can be challenging, too.

3).? Replace all strings and pins.? In the long run, I think this is the 
best option.? They certainly could afford it.

4).? Insert your thoughts here, please.

I'm going to leave things as they are for now, and check on it again in 6 
months or so to see how things are holding.

A side note to this:? when I told the family that their piano would be 100 
in a couple of years, one of the little girls started to get all excited 
about having a birthday party for it!

Thanks for reading,





Dave Stahl
Dave Stahl Piano Service
dstahlpiano.net