Make sure that both strings of the bichord notes are being hit when the shift pedal is engaged. Only one string taking all that stress may be one of the problems. Also make sure the hammer to string fit is good. It wouldn't hurt to limit the shift a little more so that you make sure he's always hitting all strings of each unison. Also, keeping a good shape on the hammers will be a big part of maintaining this piano. Steaming and ironing on a regular basis could help prolong the life of the hammers. A quick and easy way to reduce power is to shim up the backrail cloth, or just lay some bushing cloth on top of it. This will decrease both blow and dip, so the aftertouch will stay the same: no need to change any other regulation spec. Looks like he may be ready for a restringing job, or a new piano. Maybe you're not charging enough for the string repairs :) Don't let him off too easy! If he's putting a lot of hard miles on his car, he'll expect a lot more trips to the shop too! On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 6:14 AM, rufy at rcn.com <rufy at rcn.com> wrote: > > > Dear list, > > I have a customer who is a serious, accomplished and punishing player-- > plays hours a day and loves to play HARD. One of his pianos is a Yamaha G-1 > that constantly breaks wound strings in the upper bass section (not during > tuning, but when being played). They always break at the agraffe. It's > usually the right (facing keyboard) string but sometimes the left. (He also > likes to play while holding the shift on-- softly sometimes, but more often > hard) (he likes the sound). > > I've had Schaff make up some of their "low tension" strings (thicker core > wire, thinner copper). This didn't help. The piano's in good regulation and > has a set of Brooks Abel hammers that I put on. They're not terribly hard. > > Here's my problem: this gentleman thinks there must be something wrong with > the piano, whereas I have explained to him that such breakage is common > enough when there is loud playing and heavy use; that the wires will suffer > cumulative fatigue at their terminations (especially the end towards the > hammer strike point) and that's why they break. And that it's REALLY asking > for trouble to play HARD when the shift is engaged!! > > He also occasionally breaks high treble wires on this instrument, and > breaks many, many treble wires-- in the top sections only (never bass or > agraffe treble) on his other piano, which is a Steinway D. > > This fellow (who is around 60 but lean and muscular) claims that he never > experienced such a problem with other pianos, and that it was "never a > problem" at Juilliard, where he studied piano performance. > > I'm just looking for some confirmation that I'm right about this. Might > anyone out there be willing to comment? Anyone out there have any > corroboration? Anyone out there work at Juilliard and replace lots of busted > wires in practice rooms under cover of night?? > > ------------------------------ > > I have another little question: Do piano pedagogues ever teach anything > about being aware when you use the shift pedal, that if any dampers are > being held aloft (by the keys) when one shifts, this could put an unwelcome > strain on the underlever pinning? I know: key end felts should be very firm > and dense (hence smooth, undented) and the underlevers should slide sideways > on them without much lateral stress. I'm just asking. In all my years in the > trade I don't recall anyone ever discussing this. > > Joseph Giandalone, RPT > > Conway, MA > > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101109/2a94fc0a/attachment.htm>
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