Hi, Will:
On your point about the warrantee being over, you are
mistaken. The truth is the warrantee is a LIFETIME warrantee on action
parts. A few years ago, they were charging $100 for a set of brackets if
the piano was 12 years past the purchase date. They swept this fact under
the rug as long as they could, but those who kept the warrantee certificate
know otherwise. They should have at least notified the customers of the
fact that their piano may become useless in a few years. Then give them the
option of having it repaired. If you bought a car where the engine block
started expanding, you'd be pretty mad if they didn't disclose the fact.
Whether it was a sub supplier that caused the fiasco or not doesn't change
the fact that they are defective, and the company is responsible for making
them right. If you want to sell a regulation job while taking care of the
action bracket problem, and the customer wants to have it done and pay for
it, there's no problem there at all. Good business. It's just not fair for
the customer to have to pay for a defect in manufacturing covered by the
warrantee, which is clearly the case here.
When you change out the brackets, and the "feet" of the
brackets don't touch the "shoes" of the action frame, you have to be careful
that the hammer rail is still straight, that tightening the screws hasn't
tweaked the frame. That would indeed affect the bedding of the keyframe,
and the dip/blow etc. DAMHIK.
Paul McCloud
San Diego
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of William Truitt
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 5:39 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] YC brackets
Ditto to what Dean has said in both posts. You can't count on what YC sends
you fitting exactly, maybe so, and maybe not. Also, you have no clue what
the state of regulation is until you get the new brackets in and the action
set up. If it was out of regulation before the brackets started expanding,
it's not going to magically go back into good regulation once they are
replaced. I too have had to significantly change key level and dip once
rails were replaced.
I quote up to 2 full days on the regulation, which includes some voicing and
cleaning. It needs it anyway, that is almost a given. The 2 days do not
include the time spent replacing the brackets.
It's not my fault the brackets expanded and are hiding the state of
regulation of the action, so there is no reason for me to work for free.
Our customers don't expect that from other service people, nor do they
expect it from us.
It's not even Young Chang's fault, these brackets are a slow fuse time bomb
that a supplier dropped into their laps that took years to show up and
thousands of pianos to be built with them. Let's remember that virtually
all these pianos are well out of warranty at this point. The reimbursements
that YC is giving us are more than we have a right to expect, so I have no
complaint there. And if YC doesn't want to pay for all of it, or any of it,
that leaves the customer. That's fair, and it is the customer's call at
that point. I serve them best by clearly (and unapologetically) laying out
their options.
Will Truitt
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dean May
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:13 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] YC brackets
If they send you the long middle brackets and the piano has the short ones,
you may be able to still use the long ones. Put the bracket in position and
if it clears the keys, use it. Just drill a hole on an angle right above the
existing screw hole like you see above.
Hammer rail is off. Originally had short brackets but they sent me the long
ones. I have the bracket a little askew so you can see the original screw
hole in the wood and see how much it overhangs the wood platform. Plenty of
clearance, Clarence.
Dean
Dean W May (812) 235-5272
PianoRebuilders.com (888) DEAN-MAY
Terre Haute IN 47802
_____
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dean May
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 8:33 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] YC brackets
Contact person at Young Chang: John Chang, and can be reached at
866-798-6979, ext. 144 Jchang at ycapiano.com
All action brackets are dimensionally the same except for the foot length of
the middle brackets. The outside brackets are all the same. So measure your
middle brackets and count how many you need (some are 2, some are 3).
End bracket: a little over 8 inches (205 mm)
Long middle bracket: 6 5/8 inches (170 mm)
Short middle bracket: 5 3/4 inches (140 mm)
Count on doing a completely complete regulation.
Young Chang North America
19060 S Dominguez Hills Dr
Rancho Dominguez CA 90220
866-798-6979
Dean
Dean W May (812) 235-5272
PianoRebuilders.com (888) DEAN-MAY
Terre Haute IN 47802
_____
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of pmc033 at earthlink.net
Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 10:06 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] YC brackets
Hi, Les:
I've done a bunch of these. Be careful getting the action out, since
the hammers may be up too high to clear the pinblock. If the drop screws
bury into the pinblock, you may have to break/cut the brackets. Usually the
glide bolts are set to raise the frame quite a bit, so you may be able to
raise the bolts if necessary to release the action. The replacement
procedure is pretty easy, but you'll have to set the spread using calipers
or whatever. The newer model YC's spread is 113.5mm, but I can't recall
which serial #'s those are. You can call the service dept. and ask for
their advice. Check your resource guide for their number, as I don't have
it handy. You should be able to get the brackets for free, and they will
offer some compensation, but it's not much. You'll have to charge the
customer for re-regulating the piano, especially if you had to move the
glide bolts to get the action out. You'll need some longer screws to mount
the stack, since the new bracket feet will be taller than the old ones.
Just plug and redrill. Often, a previous technician has adjusted the letoff
buttons to compensate for blocking hammers. Most likely you'll be screwing
all the letoff dowels back up quite a ways to get the action to work again.
It's not hard. If you can regulate an action, it's a piece of cake.
Good luck and have fun.
Paul McCloud
San Diego
----- Original Message -----
From: Leslie Bartlett <mailto:l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: 04/22/2010 6:09:50 AM
Subject: [pianotech] YC brackets
I would appreciate hearing from someone with a good bit of experience with
YC bracket replacement. I did ONE several years ago, with only modest
success. Its been a very long time since I have seen this piano, and am
not even sure the action will come out. Im in need of sage advice.
Thanks,
Les Bartlett
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