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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Yes, yes, yes...how about <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Kansas City</st1:place></st1:City> since I’m planning to
attend!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Joy!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Elwood<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Elwood
Doss</span></font></st1:PersonName><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, Jr., M.M.E., RPT</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Piano Technician/Technical Director</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Department of Music</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>145 Fine Arts Building</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Tennessee</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>
at Martin</span></font><font color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Martin</span></font></st1:City><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">TN</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">38238</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>731/881-1852</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>FAX: 731/881-7415</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>HOME: 731/587-5700</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Bdshull@aol.com<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Saturday, September 30, 2006
1:00 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> caut@ptg.org<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [CAUT] durability
(was funding)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Ed,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Although your procedures took significant investment and
time on your part to learn, what you have shared here would be the
basis of an excellent CAUT class in the future, if you were willing. I'd
sure want to attend it....<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Bill Shull<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><br>
La <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sierra</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>,
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Riverside</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State></st1:place>, where we just doubled the
annual maintenance budget this year to .6% of inventory value<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> In a message dated 9/29/2006 8:14:22 PM Pacific
Daylight Time, A440A@aol.com writes:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt;
margin-left:3.75pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Inre Vanderbilt, Joel writes:<br>
<br>
<< I read this to mean that you may be doing well.<br>
The Wall Street Journal article this week lead me<br>
to believe your Chancellor is filling the coffers<br>
quite well.>><br>
<br>
Yes, we are well financed. Of late, Martha Ingram donated $
250,000,000 <br>
to Vanderbilt, so Blair School of Music got a new concert hall, new D, new <br>
building wing, etc. <br>
One thing that helps is that we are using a lot of pianos
that I began <br>
restoring in the early 1980's. The work was done in accordance to the <br>
procedures I learned from David Betts and Bill Garlick, and time has proven the
<br>
durability of their techniques. This makes it easier to sell the value of
<br>
rebuilding vs. loaner or trading in old pianos for new. <br>
One of our senior piano faculty is using an M that was done
in 1983 and <br>
is still performing well, (albeit getting a little light and brassy).
That <br>
action job was billed at $ 1750 at the time, so the last 23 years of use seems <br>
like a bargain. The administration now accepts that $9,500 for a complete
new <br>
action will also be seen as a bargain in 23 more years, so they are happy to <br>
fund that rather than spend $ 50,000 for a new piano! <br>
Refusing to cut corners, using the best materials
available, and putting <br>
in the time to do the best work requires a little faith on the front end, but <br>
after standing the test of time, proves to be the best support for funding <br>
top-dollar work that I can find. <br>
There are a lot of things that go into it: ie, damper wires
that are not <br>
only polished, but aligned so that they don't press into the guide bushings, <br>
insures that the damper felt is going to stay in the same travel and the felt <br>
lasts longer. NEVER pushing a mute into a trichord without lifting
the <br>
wedges helps longevity, too. (how many techs always lift the damper out
of the way <br>
before moving the mute through the wound trichords on a D? This is <br>
important!) Proper alignment of the underlevers to key-end felt is
crucial to <br>
durability. <br>
Stopping the damper pedal travel via felt blocks on the
trapwork levers <br>
directly over the pedal rods prevents someone's foot force from finding its <br>
way to the upstop rail. Same goes for the sostenuto; that intermediate lever
can <br>
be broken if the original felt block by the pitman is made to take the full <br>
force of the pedal, I like to stop it against the keybed directly over the <br>
pedal rod, too. Una corda is often tricky, there are often cut-out
recesses under <br>
there, but a leather or hard felt stop on the top of the shift lever can <br>
fashioned. This prevents the keyframe contact point from gradually getting
crushed <br>
by the pedal jamming it against the stop screw. <br>
I think fastidious traveling of the shanks improves the
durability of the <br>
pinning,( I pin a little firmer on school pianos). Making sure
there is no <br>
lost motion between jack and knuckle allows the knuckle to stay round for <br>
longer periods of time. Coordinating the blow,let-off, and keydip to
prevent the <br>
jack from jamming allows the let-off punchings to live longer. Firm jack <br>
pinning, (4-5 grams) doesn't slow repetition down at all, but prevents jacks
from <br>
going off-center with all the attendant lopsided wear and failure that ensues. <br>
I use hide glue because I will need to replace parts in the future and it <br>
makes it soooo easy. <br>
Needling sufficient resilience into the hammers seems to let them
live <br>
longer as opposed to leaving them so hard that all of the impact force is <br>
concentrated in the strike zone, causing a more rapid erosion of the
felt. Hammer <br>
tails don't need to be roughened if they are cut squarely on a 3" radius
and the <br>
back-checks are properly angled. I have back-checks from the 1930's in this <br>
school that are just fine, while I have seen poorly adjusted new ones wear out <br>
in 10 years of heavy use. It helps to taper tails as little as possible,too.
<br>
Polished and nick-free front pins greatly increase key bushing
life. HOW <br>
can the Steinway factory have let so many of these pins be damaged in the <br>
spacing process? The bushings will last for about the warranty period,
then you <br>
have a sloppy keyboard. I bush keys with as little caul pressure as I can, <br>
since the more pressure on the glue, the less glue is pressed into the felt,
which <br>
effectively decreases the working dimension of the felt. Bushings wear <br>
longer . <br>
ETC, ETC......... There is a way to build actions so that they last. It <br>
takes longer and costs a little more, but I want every action I rebuild to go
out <br>
there as advertising for my work. I live with almost all of my rebuilds
for <br>
decades, so I want them to be as maintenance-free as possible. It frees up <br>
budgets to cover more pianos. <br>
Regards, <br>
<br>
Ed Foote RPT <br>
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html<br>
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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