WD40- Steinway B update

[David Andersen]

Great report; thanks, Tom...
David A.

On Jul 22, 2007, at 5:23 AM, Tom Servinsky wrote:

> List
> Had some time to do some experimenting with this Steinway B which  
> had the WD40 treatment. If you remember, the instrument was quite  
> decent prior to the owner spraying WD40 everywhere. Now the tone  
> and sustain is dead.
> Many of your suggestions dealt with wood becoming soft, espeically  
> in the bridge cap.  Some suggestions dealt with terminations be  
> hampered. All good leads.
> 1. I cleaned with the termination points ( capo/ agraffe, bridge  
> pins/bridge cap) on 5 notes throughout the piano.
> Result- some clarity improvement, but no improvement in sustain.
> Test - plucking the string only ( hammers also are damaged) and  
> listening to the sustain and quality of tone.
> 2. Check bridge pinning. So loose they came out by hand with ease.
>    Installed #8 bridge pins with longer profile
> Result:  Increase in sustain by 5 seconds. Tone much fuller. Still  
> not up to my expectations, but an improvement no less.
> Some good news:   the wood on the bridge cap appeared very firm and  
> not mushy.
> My hunch is that once the board is stripped, sanded, and  
> refinished, new bridge pins installed, new agraffes, and capo  
> cleaned/shaped thoroughly, the sustain will improve dramatically.
> I'll keep you posted.
> Tom Servinsky
>