Yesterday I tuned a 12-yr-old S&S B for someone who has been my customer for 2 years, during which time I have tuned the piano 6 times. I inherited this customer from another tech who kept a good service record in the piano, and I could see the piano had been tuned almost every 2-3 months, which surprised me. Customer is a professional classical pianist who plays with full tone, firm & heavier-handed than some but certainly not a banger. From my first tuning, I worked with customer to diagnose poor tuning instability and on climate control, and recommended a full Life Saver System after 6 mos (declined due to expense). Yesterday I was frustrated because most unisons were quite bad since I last tuned 6 months ago, and this is not typical for me. I decided to have a good look at the bridge, which usually remains under the string cover. I was dismayed to find the treble bridge had small cracks on virtually all front pins, and on many there appeared to be a small gap on the string side of the pin. No wonder there were false beats throughout making unison tuning difficult, and poor stability. Questions: (1) How common is this condition on this age and type of piano? I was very surprised. In spite of DC's very humid summers and dry (25% R.H.) winters, I don't usually see this level of damage in only a decade -- or even 2 or 3 decades. After all, this isn't an 80-yr-old upright. (2) What are the alternative remedies? I presume (not a rebuilder) replacing or recapping the bridge is most desirable, but would CA treatment be appropriate to this instrument as an interim measure? How likely is that to yield significant improvements? Paul Milesi, RPT Washington, DC (202) 667-3136 E-mail: paul at pmpiano.com Website: http://www.pmpiano.com
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