Restring and/or Rescale? 30 YO Yamaha C3

[Paul Chick]

Mike:

The replies to your e-mail seem to confirm what you already know.it's time
to rebuild the piano.  I'm often met with a surprised and confused customer
when I tell them there piano is worn out and needs to be rebuilt.  Some how
the public thinks pianos should last beyond anything else mechanical that
they use/own.  I'd say 30 years of the indicated use and no rebuilding of
this poor Yamaha is quite remarkable!  It's time to redo.

 

Paul C

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Magness
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2007 1:03 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Restring and/or Rescale? 30 YO Yamaha C3

 


The piano in question, a Yamaha C3 built in the first half of 1977 has
developed a string breaking problem. It is in a public high school it has
very light rust spots on some strings, mostly high treble. I rebushed keys,
reshaped hammers and regulated it a year ago, probably the first regulation
it had had since new. I have consulted with 3 different techs at Yamaha, all
independently, all unaware of my having talked with the others. I got the
same answer, metal fatigue of the strings due to the high tension scale. 2
added that the problem may be exacerbated between the bench and the
keyboard. Not only do I agree with the last statement but so does she, the
vocal director, admits that she has a very heavy touch. However I have also
had strings break when I was tuning, not while I was tuning them but after I
had moved on and was a couple of strings away, no longer even on the unison.
The director has had bass strings break while playing, 2 last year, one so
far this year.  

 

My initial inclination was to look into rescaling it but after talking with
a friend who has more experience with re-scaling than I do, perhaps that
wouldn't be the best avenue. It was his feeling that perhaps the 30YO
hammers may be the culprit. restringing may solve the breaking problem in
the immediate future because it's new wire but with the old hammers the
breakage will return before long. 

 

The piano, as I understand it, was designed primarily as a smaller stage
piano, a concert instrument if you will. The school uses it 4 hours a day
minimum in a classroom setting, very hard use. As it was put to me what they
need with the re-string is a 99% classroom instrument and a 1% concert
instrument.  

I have the great good fortune of the Superintendent of Schools for this
district having been a former elementary music teacher and he worked his way
through college doing "piece" work for a piano tech. Shop work, key
bushings, flange bushings, repinning, etc. So he not only appreciates a fine
working piano but knows all of the work and time that goes into making it
that way.  

 

I am looking for advice from one and all. Anyone with any experience with
this make and model or a similar one would be great but in lieu of that give
me opinions.  

Thanks,

 

Mike
-- 
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing
is to not stop questioning.-- Albert Einstein



Michael Magness
Magness Piano Service
608-786-4404
www.IFixPianos.com
email mike at ifixpianos.com 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20071012/e28a7141/attachment.html