[CAUT] Baldwin SD

[Susan Kline]

I'm sure I tuned it after bending, Robin, but I don't remember having 
stability
problems with it. I probably introduced a kink into the wire, which perhaps
moved the bearing to a slightly different part of the agraffe. Well, that's 
what
I supposed, but I have no idea if that's just what happened.

Has anybody else done this? (Your shameful secret is safe with me ...) I
wouldn't have tried it, but I just got so fed up with the sound.

Susan

At 12:26 PM 4/1/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>Susan wrote: "Sometimes in the bottom of the tenor section, a note or two 
>will have a
>high harmonic beating  away, even for soft playing. When totally fed up
>with it, I've once or twice (making sure that no one was looking) taken a
>small blunt screwdriver, placed it between the strings on the non-speaking
>side of the agraffe, and twisted sideways. It felt like a somewhat dirty
>procedure, but the noises stopped."
>
>Susan, was it necessary to tune the affected strings right away?? I am 
>wondering if you exerted sufficient force with the screwdriver to move the 
>wire on the other side of the agraffe. That is to suggest that there was 
>some issue further down the wire that was resolved. Hmmmmmm............
>
>Robin Blankenship
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Kline" <skline at peak.org>
>To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
>Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 10:27 AM
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Baldwin SD
>
>
>>Hi, Avery
>>
>>Well, heck, if they buffed the tops of the agraffes ... the whole piano 
>>should have jumped to attention!
>>
>>It is hard to figure sound differences by email, but I'll give it a try.
>>
>>Sometimes in the bottom of the tenor section, a note or two will have a 
>>high harmonic beating  away, even for soft playing. When totally fed up 
>>with it, I've once or twice (making sure that no one was looking) taken a 
>>small blunt screwdriver, placed it between the strings on the 
>>non-speaking side of the agraffe, and twisted sideways. It felt like a 
>>somewhat dirty procedure, but the noises stopped.
>>
>>I think, if meeting with simple poor tone quality in the section just 
>>below the first capo, I might try taking the same (favorite, soft, blunt) 
>>screwdriver (thanks, Sears) and pressing down on the wire immediately 
>>behind the agraffe (tuning pin side.) If the sound improves, then I have 
>>sometimes woven a little tent of bushing cloth through the strings, as if 
>>they were in the capo duplex, and then pushed it down against the 
>>agraffe. Well, it's something to try, and does no harm.
>>
>>I suspect that, yes, you'll eventually want new strings and agraffes, at 
>>least for that section.
>>
>>I love a good Baldwin bass sound. Newport's SD-10 has a great one -- 
>>rich, interesting, easy to tune, not given to brashness in soft playing, 
>>and the tone never breaks, no matter what sledgehammer-blows a pianist 
>>throws at it. Bronze.
>>
>>Susan
>>
>>
>>
>>At 09:09 AM 4/1/2006 -0600, you wrote:
>>>List,
>>>
>>>I put this on the pianotech list Saturday PM but so far have only had 1 
>>>response. I also want to pick anyone's brain on this list who might have 
>>>knowledge of this problem and/or the best way to correct it. Thanks.
>>>
>>>Avery Todd
>>>University of Houston
>>>
>>>
>>>Do any of you have any direct experience with an SD-6 #118127 (1952 I 
>>>was told)? My atlas is
>>>at the university.
>>>
>>>Today, I went to look at one for sale at a store at a good price. For 
>>>several years, we've been
>>>needing one to put into our large orchestra/band rehearsal hall to avoid 
>>>having to move one into there from our major performance hall for 
>>>rehearsals of big concertos.
>>>
>>>It's been refinished and had new hammers (Renner Blues, I think) 
>>>installed on the old shanks.
>>>Graphited knuckles, etc. Anyway, I'm not worried about all that. That, I 
>>>can handle.
>>>
>>>My question is, there is a tone problem in the middle agraffe section. 
>>>(It's so hard to describe sounds in an e-mail.) The dealer kept saying 
>>>he thought it was primarily a hammer fitting/string leveling problem. 
>>>Yes, there is some of that that needs to be done. But I believe it's a 
>>>problem in the agraffes themselves. This isn't a hammer fitting type of 
>>>sound. It's a distorted/zinging kind of sound. Like a termination 
>>>problem or something not seated well. There are some agraffes that are 
>>>not parallel to the strings and I first thought that was the problem. 
>>>But there are also some with that same sound where the agraffes are 
>>>lined up correctly. I'm assuming it probably came that way from the 
>>>factory. And it's only in that one section. I didn't have my tools with 
>>>me because I didn't expect anything like that to come up, so I couldn't 
>>>even experiment a little. You don't really notice it all that much when 
>>>just normally playing it. Just when playing each note individually. 
>>>Especially with a little power.
>>>
>>>The piano has never been restrung. Even still has the aluminum wrapped 
>>>type upper bass strings. But it sounds great. A BIG bass sound! Decent 
>>>sustain. The only real problem is in that one area. Have any of you run 
>>>across this? Can the agraffes be straightened a little without removing 
>>>the strings? My semi-educated guess is that that section is going to 
>>>have to be restrung with new agraffes. Or at least, "redone" agraffes. 
>>>They did buff the tops of them, though. :-)
>>>
>>>This is pre-accujust hitch pins and from the first treble break down, 
>>>has one single-tie string on each unison. The tech at the store said 
>>>they could correct the problem, which I would prefer to have done before 
>>>we buy it but I was wondering if any of you had any ideas? The dealer 
>>>said he'd pay me to do the regulation & voicing. Which it needs.
>>>
>>>Am I on the right track about the agraffes? Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
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