John If you just want to prove yours theory. May I suggest you something: Last years I have the same problem when I rebuilt a 1979 NY D with a Pratt and Read key very thin and flexible; new key was an too expensive and too long option. So with a engineer friend specialize in composite material. I make an 3/4 inch carbon fiber tape that I glue on each key After you got the material it's an 12 hour work And I'm very happy with the result. Serge Harel University Laval > The piano is a D that suffers from "power loss" on some notes. In > some instances, the harder you hit the key, the less sound you get! So, I > pull the action and check to see if the tails are hanging up on the > backchecks. I notice an unusual amount of flex in the key itself. Upon > close inspection I see the balance rail buttons have been replace with > what looks like poplar, not a strong wood. Some of the buttons "give" when > you attempt to flex the key by pushing down on the key front while holding > the hammer down, or holding the back of the key down. I think the keys > have lost their strength and would like to test my theory by having a new > set of keys made. The theory applies to concert instruments that are older > and may have seen many years of heavy usage. I believe wood can fatigue > when stressed to it's limits repeatedly. > > John Minor > University of Illinois > > > > On Tue, 6 Mar 2001, Avery Todd wrote: > > ]John & List, > ] > ]I have 2 Kluge keyboards (one in bone) from Kluge through the > ]Rappaport's on complete rebuilding jobs. Both seem to be fine, > ]although the bone is beginning to yellow considerably and I'm > ]not sure yet how to "whiten" them up some. > ] > ]I'm curious as to why you're replacing the keys. Really old > ]and in bad shape? The reason I'm asking is I'm going to have > ]to do something in the near future about the keyboard on our > ]Hamburg D. It's only about 18 yrs. old or so but the ivories > ]are getting very thin and sharp edged in the front and the > ]edges of the sharps are more rounded than a lot of people > ]like. > ] > ]Because of the age, I've considered sending them to be > ]recovered rather than replace the whole keyboard. However, if > ]they were recovered, I'd definitely want someone who could do > ]a really top notch job! > ] > ]Also, how do the prices compare between Kluge and Bob. Just > ]curious. > ] > ]Opinions? Recover or replace? Thanks. > ] > ]Avery > ] > ]>I'd like to have a set of replacement keys made for one of our D's and > ]>wondered if anyone could steer me in the right direction. I know Pianotek > ]>does keys, as well as Kluge. Anyone have experience with either of these? > ]> > ]>Thanks > ]> > ]>John Minor > ]>University of Illinois > ] > > > >
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