Hi Jon: Danger, danger, Will Robinson, alien life forms approaching!! (To borrow a phrase from the robot on "Lost in Space") I do have some questions - is that the original pinblock or a replacement, as best you can tell? My suspicion is that it is the original, as I think that a new pinblock a few years out of the shop would be unlikely to split so soon. It is split where they usually do. Are you planning on pulling the plate and removing strings to do the repair you speak of? Either way, the plate is already cracked, so it's just a question of dead or deader. You're going to have to lower the tension no matter what. I would "baby it down", by lowering each tuning pin a bit and moving across the tuning pin field one row at a time, go all the way through, come back and lower it some more, and keep doing that until you have the tension off. I don't know what you could do that would be more gentle than that. I think you would want some assurance from someone skilled and of good reputation in repairing cracked plates that this can be repaired. It is my guess that it can be repaired, but only by someone with lots of experience in plate repair (and I do not qualify as an expert here). And I would have him take a look at the two repairs already made. You have no assurance that they were done well, even though they are not presently cracked. For all you know, it may be bondo in there. The plate cracks are where Bechstein plates usually crack. My understanding is that this occurs because the struts are thin, and the pinblocks are poorly fit. The combination of the two leads to the crack over a long period of time. (These pinblocks are so hard to fit, even the Germans couldn't do it right all the time!). If it is the case that the pinblock is poorly fit, then I think you have no choice but to replace the pinblock, as you otherwise would not be addressing the problem. And the fact that the first rebuilder had to deal with plate cracks reinforces this need to replace the pinblock. Of course, the only way to have a full idea of how well the block is fit, is to pull the plate. I know you to be a very fine technician and a person of good reputation, Jon. I think anything short of skilled plate repair and well fit new pinblock has the potential to come back and haunt you. My concern would be that your suggested repairs could be band-aids on top of band-aids, no matter how skillfully done. I would be interested in how this works out. My next project after my Steinway is a 7' 6" Bechstein that needs a new block. And I have another customer with a 6 1/2 footer whose pinblock is on its knees. Best wishes to you, Will Truitt -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jon Page Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 1:28 PM To: pianotech list Subject: [pianotech] Bechstein Cracked Plate and Pin Block I recently went to tune this piano, it is a few year out of a rebuilder's shop. I tuned it last October and didn't notice anything amiss but last month I did notice this: http://home.comcast.net/~jonpage/site/?/page/Bechstein_Cracked_Plate_and_Pin _Block/ I'm thinking to fix the split bass pin block, pull the pins and fill with epoxy, map tuning pin field. Install 1/2" pin block plugs, transcribe pin field. Pretty straight forward. My concern is with letting the tension down with the cracked treble struts. It appears that they were ground and filled on the left sides of the struts. -- Regards, Jon Page
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