[pianotech] (no subject)

[Ron Nossaman]

On 3/15/2012 10:33 AM, Ron Nossaman wrote:
> On 3/15/2012 9:23 AM, chip tuthill wrote:
>> Ron,
>>
>> Thanks for your reply. First of all I'm not a butcher.<G> I was a
>> cabinet maker before learning and continuing to learn the skills and art
>> as a piano technician. I'm well aware of the differences between piano v
>> player piano repairs. I do not represent myself as a player tech. But I
>> will look at any instrument to see if I can help the owner. If not, I'll
>> try and find someone to help. In this case the first problem seems
>> apparent (see attached photo). If the fix works great- happy customer.
>> If not on to stage two.
>>
>> Chip
>
> Hi Chip,
> My father, long ago, decided he wanted a player so we got him one to
> rebuild. He was a first rate mechanic, woodworker, and all around
> craftsman, so I offered the technical information as he did most of the
> labor. When we finished, I asked him if he thought he would have had a
> prayer of figuring it out on his own. "Not a chance" was his assessment.
> The physical skills necessary aren't anything extraordinary, but the
> quantity and quality of specific information necessary to do a good job
> are way more than meets the eye. It's awfully easy to be a player
> butcher with all good intentions and a high mechanical skill level, and
> I've seen the results waaaaay too many times through the years. <G>
> Tread lightly. Here be monsters.
> Ron N

Sorry, I forgot the photo: case in point...

It's a Gulbransen. The pouches are pneumatic cloth, not leather, and 
will be too hard and stiff to function whatever the striker pneumatic 
cloth happens to look like. The pictured governor pneumatic was covered 
with a nylon/polyurethane cloth (Bilon, I think it's called), using PVCE 
or it's equivalent, and wasn't even re-hinged. I expect the valve wasn't 
recovered either. If this sample is the level of work that was done on 
the rest of the thing, it is well and truly butchered and needs totally 
torn down to component parts and done from scratch, including the piano, 
and all money spent on it so far was wasted.
Ron N