horrid "repairs"

[Porritt, David]

John:

 

I've seen bass strings with the windings on the bridge before.  I found
one where those "repairs" were done in a store and the piano sold to a
customer who called me about the bad sound.  (I think they accidentally
left their ears at home the day they purchased it!)  

 

Now that all of us have some kind of camera (phone) with us all the time
we should all collaborate on a "Dante's Illustrated Book of Creative
Repairs".  It's really kind of gruesome what's out there.

 

dave

 

 

David M. Porritt, RPT

dporritt at smu.edu <mailto:dporritt at smu.edu> 

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of John Formsma
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2008 8:25 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: horrid "repairs"

 

"Tuned" a Wurlitzer studio yesterday.  It had been "taken care of for
years" by a piano tooner, who was known for poor work.  He is in failing
health, so they called me.

 

Of the 48 bass strings, only 11 were originals.  All the rest were
universals, and many obviously the wrong size.  I'm guessing none of
them were ever measured with a micrometer. (Can you imagine how it
sounded?)

 

Look at the nice bass string replacement in the attached photo
(Image018.jpg).

 

There was also another weird "repair."  Two big blocks of hammer felt
and one 5/8" dowel were shoved between the back posts and the ribs of
the soundboard.  I'm assuming an attempt to introduce crown. ???  I
didn't get a picture of that because of poor light, and only having my
cell phone camera.  I just left that alone because I didn't want to deal
with any unforeseen hassle that might ensue upon removal, and because
the piano is toast anyway. (Loose tuning pins, needs hammer flange
repinning, worn hammers, etc.)

 

Also attached is a photo (of a different piano) that I snapped some time
ago. (Image011.jpg)

-- 
JF 

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