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<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">Both bridges look new to my eye. =
There are
no shims in the soundboard (they wouldn't do that to a "D", would =
they?), and
the wood looks new, so I assume it is, too. Can't tell about the
pinblock. There is no local Steinway dealer: none in WV at =
all! But
I've been thinking about writing to Steinway to get its history (any
contacts?).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">Less than a dozen bass pins are =
loose.
Treble pins are adequate but not what I'd want for the tensions =
here. I'll
treat the whole thing if I CA it. The loose pins are near plate =
struts,
and/or the keyboard (not the plate flange). I've never driven =
pins; I
don't have the tools for that. None seem to have been previously
driven.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">Turns out the DC has been unplugged for =
two years,
and was only on for one. The rebuild was about eight years ago, so =
the
damage was probably done long ago. Indoor winter humidity here has =
been
around 33% (in homes), and is around 40% now; I'd sure like to know what =
it is
in this auditorium in the winter. The janitor said he filled the
double-tank system about every two weeks, which seems on the high side =
for
me. That's the best ammo for my argument, I think. I've =
given them
the DC brochure and your excellent CAUT guidelines, which latter should =
be
publicized more widely to the PTG membership. I only found them by =
accident through a Google search!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">Thanks for all the =
advice...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">--Cy--</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ed440@mindspring.com =
href="mailto:ed440@mindspring.com">Ed Sutton</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">College and University Technicians</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, April 16, 2005 =
9:24
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: [CAUT] CA for =
loose pins on
a "D"?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Cy-</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Were the pinblock, bridge cap and soundboard replaced during the
"Steinway rebuild?" Was this "Steinway rebuild" done at the =
Steinway
factory in New York, or by the local Steinway dealer?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Are all the bass tuning pins loose, or just a =
few? How
about the rest of the tuning pins? If this is a new pin block, this =
could be
due to sloppy drilling or poor choice of tuning pins. Is =
there
room on the pin to allow driving it a bit deeper into the block?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>CA glue is a very good emergency repair. It doesn't damage =
the pin
block or enlarge the hole, thus leaving the option of repinning the =
entire
instrument or section with larger pins of one size. (The only =
risk I've
found is that on a vertical it may drip through onto the floor!)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You might write a letter saying that you have identified apparent =
problems in the pin block, bridge and soundboard, that these may be =
caused by
extremes of humidity, and that you cannot evaluate the extent of these =
problems unless the climate control system is activated. You can =
get a
booklet from Damp-Chaser that may help, and also be sure the system is =
adequate.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Your plans for North Bennett Street are wonderful. Good =
luck!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ed Sutton</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=741662027@theshusters.org
href="mailto:741662027@theshusters.org">Cy Shuster</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">CAUT</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 4/15/2005 10:19:08 PM =
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [CAUT] CA for loose =
pins on a
"D"?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I've been studying piano technology for ten =
years, on and
off (I've passed the RPT written exam), and have been tuning =
professionally
for a year and a half. I've applied to North Bennet St. for =
this
fall.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I was just asked to take care of an S&S D =
for a local
community college. It's 1917 vintage (played by Rachmaninoff =
at one
time!), and rebuilt by Steinway about ten years ago. It's =
suffering
from humidity damage: 8" crack in the soundboard behind and under =
the treble
bridge and elsewhere, false beats in the low tenor (loose bridge =
pins?), and
loose tuning pins in the bass. One or two are so loose I was =
tempted
to mute them, for fear they wouldn't survive a concert.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Of the needed repairs, the only one's I'm =
qualified to do
are to CA the loose pins, which I've done successfully three times
previously. I'll happily do this on someone's no-name, =
100-year-old,
4'8" neonatal grand with rusty strings, but I want to ask for advice =
before
doing anything irreversible to an instrument of this caliber. =
I can do
the repair without side effects, I'm sure (I pull the action and use =
copious
amounts of plastic tarps), but still...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Is the right thing to do to simply write up a =
report and
say that it needs a new pinblock, bridge cap, and at least =
epoxy in the
soundboard cracks? Or let Steinway re-evaluate it? Is it =
better
to pull the loose pins and shim with sandpaper or veneer rather than =
risking
CA? Will Steinway scoff if they get a CA'd pinblock to
replace?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Side note: it has a disassembled DC system...
sigh...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy Shuster--</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Bluefield, WV</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT
size=2></FONT> </DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTM=
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