[CAUT] Tight Balancier

James Ellis claviers at nxs.net
Sat Nov 11 13:43:16 MST 2006


Marcel Carey is correct.  I saw that Kawai high-speed film too, and it is
possible to have a jack so loose, and cushion felts so bouncy, that at just
the right repetition speed the jack will bounce and end up in exactly the
wrong place at the wrong time, causing repetition to fail.

On the other hand, not long ago I was filling in for another technician,
and I ended up tuning for two different concerts in two different places on
the same evening.  I had just finished tuning one piano when I got a
frantic call from the manager of the other orchestra, which was having
final rehearsal before performance.  Several notes were failing to play at
all.  The other location was only 20 miles away, and I got there ASAP.  The
jacks were too tight.  The relative humidity had increased, and the jacks
got even tighter.  They were failing to return at any speed.  A careful
application of shrinking solution followed by some heat from a neat little
device I had made that heats only the spots that need to be heated, and all
was well.  The pianist wanted me to do a stand-by during performance.  I
told her why I couldn't, but I assured her that the problem was fixed, and
she would have no problem.

WARNING:  Do NOT try the heat thing on jack centers using a heat gun, or
you may cause the jack tenders to come loose.

Jim Ellis  



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