Verdigris

[Fred Sturm]

	At the risk of boring everyone, I'm going to add a little more detail on 
my experience with Verdigris and Protek CLP. Like many, I had tried lots of 
possibilities, including solvents (naphtha was perhaps the one I had the 
best luck with, sometimes mixed with one lubricant or other), but nothing 
really helped much for long. Same old story. I read about Protek, and tried 
it out. It helped a fair amount, just dosing and working the joints, but 
some joints remained quite stubborn. I removed a couple and made sure I 
saturated the bushings, and worked them, happening upon lateral motion as 
part of the process. That really seemed to make a sudden difference. So I 
added it to my bag of tricks.
	But I was still skeptical about long term prognosis, so I decided to do an 
experiment. I went to my archives and pulled out a set of verdigris shanks 
(hey, my kids are going to make a fortune on them one of these days: 
original Steinway parts! They don't make them like this any more! 
Experience the Steinway piano the way your great grandparents did! But I 
digress). I selected six pretty sluggish ones with various sizes of 
hammers. Sluggish to the point of to, fro/stop (doesn't make it to the half 
way point the second swing). I took three and applied Protek to both sides 
of each bushing, worked each flange thoroughly, reapplied Protek, 
re-worked. I did precisely the same working process to the other three, 
control shanks. Results: 5 to 7 swings with Protek, mild improvement to 2 
1/2 swings with the controls. Left these (marked) on the work bench.
	Every two or three months I'd check progress, doing a swing test for each. 
There was a bit of deterioration of the Proteked shanks, but not past 4 
swings. So after a year and more, I decided I knew enough to decide that 
applying protek would probably last at least to my next appointment, that I 
wouldn't be called back next week or month. I kept checking over the next 
couple years, with the same observation. Ran across them a couple years ago 
(maybe 10 years later) and there was still a very noticeable difference 
between treated and untreated.
	About this time, a small, fairly new performance venue (mostly jazz) I was 
involved with had a 1920's A donated as an indefinite loan. Shipped at 
considerable expense from San Francisco. Lots of anticipation: venue 
director with a big smile, showing me this wonderful surprise, such an 
improvement over the Acrosonic spinet. I sat down at it and my eyebrows 
went up just a wee bit. I gave him the usual spiel about how really these 
parts should all be replaced, but I was well aware that there was nowhere 
near enough money. And ownership and whatnot made it unfeasible without 
lots of headache. So I said, "I'll try this new lubricant that just came on 
the market. Maybe it will get us through for a while."
	I did a thorough job. Every shank and wipp flange treated and worked twice 
as described above. Result: from half the hammers being constantly frozen 
halfway to the strings, to a fully functional action (I did unpin, ream, 
lube and repin maybe three shanks that were particularly recalcitrant). The 
piano continued to function, and function well, for the next eight years. 
No further treatment (well, maybe one or two flanges). I also did a 
thorough friction reduction job: wipp cushions, capstans, knuckles, rep 
lever spring grooves etc.
	This piano passed muster with plenty of high profile pianists: Chucho 
Valdez, Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Brian Mehldau, Geri Allen, to name a 
few. I performed on it myself maybe 10 times. I won't say there were zero 
complaints, but very few, and none aimed at function (noise and tone were 
the issues. 70 year old hammers). And there were quite a few compliments as 
well. (And, hey, I know jazz artists are used to playing on dogs a lot, so 
I'm not making enormous claims here). Finally enough money was raised to 
purchase the instrument and replace the action parts, and it's much nicer 
now. But the point is that it is possible for a verdigris piano to become 
functional and stay functional at a reasonable level.
	Over those same years I have had several customers with verdigris 
problems. I have yet to find one I couldn't make at least reasonably 
functional. Those that get played stay functional better, longer. Those 
that just sit start to freeze up again after three or four years as a rule.
	Caveat: I live in New Mexico. Our air is drier and less polluted than in 
most of the country. Also less oxygen, which leads to lightheadedness and 
impairment of brain function <g>. Judging from what I read and hear from 
others in other parts of the country, perhaps much of my success is aided 
greatly by where I am. And, frankly, I am not dealing with hundreds of 
these beasts, just 20 - 40 or so. So maybe I haven't hit enough really 
gummy ones. Or maybe those I have hit have been the kind of customer that 
doesn't call for the next service until a couple decades pass.
	I'm sure Goose Joose works fine as well, quite likely better. I have no 
doubt Wild Turkey can be just the ticket. I would be very interested in 
results of controlled experiments like the one I did, with various 
products. Maybe I'll get around to some myself.
	Bottom line: I always give the spiel about new parts being the way to go. 
Less than 10% of the time the customer goes for it. I'm here to serve my 
clientele. I do what I can to get the most out of the piano with the 
resources available (hey, that sounds like a good caut motto - as long as 
we add "and I continually lobby for more resources").
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico