[pianotech] Locating & Re-Locating Plate

[William Truitt]

HI Phillip:

 

I use a very similar method to Ed Foote and Dale’s, and I concur that it is
very accurate.  I would add that, in addition to the pilot holes through the
plate into the pinblock, I also drill two 90 degree holes through the plate
into the rim at the tail – one near the bass end and the other near the
treble end.  With this set of pilot holes, the plate is pretty limited in
how much it moves from original location

 

To answer your question, if you wonder if you are making too much fuss over
this – NO, not at all.  A few years ago I came behind another’s rebuild of a
Steinway B where he used the screw holes as his indices.  The plate was so
misplaced that there were big problems mating the action to the string
locations.  The tone sucked too, especially in the treble.  Why?  There’s
probably almost ¼” of play fore and aft and side to side.  That much play in
the treble can cause huge strike point problems as well as making the string
lengths too long or too short, leading to gross tonal deficits.  Side to
side errors can cause all kinds of issues with the action.  

 

Trust me, you don’t want to find out all the problems you can have AFTER the
piano is strung.  Listen to Ed and Dale and get even more precise.
Remember:  Murphy is a bastard, Murphy hates you, and it is personal!

 

Will Truitt

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Philip Jamison
Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2010 1:24 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Locating & Re-Locating Plate

 

Before removal, I generally mark a piano plate location using wedges and
taking several plate-to-rim measurements. I've often wondered how much
"play" a refitted plate will actually have since it's held in with a few
dozen screws and bolts. What preparation and notations should be taken
before removing a plate?


Philip Jamison
PA

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