Excellent advice, Fred. Let's see if they follow it. Susan At 12:57 PM 2/2/2003 -0700, you wrote: >Following is the response I sent along to my previous post: > >Rebuilding is generally defined as the replacement of parts, on any of >several levels: > The simplest is "action rebuilding" which may range from replacing >hammers, shanks and flanges and rebushing keys to replacement of all >action parts and replacement of the entire keyboard, with possible >changes in geometry if that seems warranted for some reason. > For the remainder of the piano, one would begin with a restring, >using the existing pinblock (probably with oversized tuning pins) as the >most minor, proceeding to pinblock replacement, bridge >repairs/recapping/replacment, soundboard repairs or replacement. > In other words, there is a vast array of meanings that can be >attached to the phrase "rebuilding a piano." It must be defined. Hence, >the institution seeking bids needs first to have a consulting technician >evaluate the pianos and determine the extent of work needed for each. So >the first step is to find a qualified and trustworthy technician to act >in an advisory - or perhaps supervisory - capacity. > As for the question of how to define what I will describe as an >"acceptable quality outcome" (which is what I will interpret by >excellent voicing), I don't believe contractual language will help you >there. Voicing is very much dependent on every step of the rebuilding >process. Assuming a fairly major rebuild, it will involve >1) a good selection of action parts >2) a good selection of hammers >3) meticulously assembled and aligned parts >4) excellent regulation >5) meticulously bushed and prepared keys >6) meticulous attention to termination points prior to restringing >(agraffes, capo d'astro bar, bridges) >7) well-leveled strings >8) hammers meticulously mated to strings > I could go on, but want to give a flavor of what is involved, even >if the individual terms don't all mean much to you. In the final >analysis, a skilled rebuilder must be found, someone you can trust to >produce an acceptable outcome based on experience. I would recommend >limiting bidding to rebuilders who can demonstrate their skill by >referring jobs that they have done - send not only a pianist, but a >technician to look at examples of their workmanship before allowing them >to bid. Skill levels of rebuilders vary immensely. > I don't know any technicians in Hawaii, but would suggest a good >place to begin is by finding Registered Piano Technician members of the >Piano Technicians Guild (look on the web page www.ptg.org). Hawaii being >so isolated, choices may be limited. If adequate skill can't be found on >the islands, it might be necessary to deal with mainland shops - there >are many excellent rebuilders on the California coast. It might be wise >to have one or two pianos rebuilt and see if the results are >satisfactory before contracting for all of them. >Hope this helps, >Fred Sturm > >_______________________________________________ >caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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