>Charles (and others), > >>I would agree with the general perceptions about the reasons for string >>breakage in the capo registers of grand pianos. On professional instruments >>that receive lots of heavy playing and tuning, these registers will require >>some serious attention at least every five years or so. > > Can you *really* go this long on a heavily played concert instrument >(I'm thinking Recital Hall here)? If I waited that long on ours, I'm afraid >they would be worn completely flat and sound like a tin pan. > How often do others on the list file hammers on their concert instruments? Greetings Avery, I was referring to replacing the strings. I resurface the hammers routinely during voicing several times a year on the concert instruments, so that heavy filings can be avoided. This seems to prolong hammer life, simplify voicing, and helps prevent sudden, dramatic changes in voicing that can be so truamatic for pianists. > BTW, speaking of filing hammers, I just tuned one of our lease pianos >that are going to be changed out this week and the clean-up "tech" from the >dealer had filed the hammers (a light filing, he called it). I pulled the >action to take a look and they had been "filed" alright. Just the grooves, >it looked like. There is now a nice little cup with ridges of unfiled felt >on each side of the strike point on the hammers! I wanted to say >something, but I managed not to. Should I have? Opinions? > This by a guy I talked to once about joining the PTG and he said he >didn't because he didn't believe it had anything to offer him!!!! > Don't you just love it?? It is not accidental that those who are closed to learning and professional growth often do poor work. If you can't educate the technician, perhaps you can educate the dealer. Good luck, Charles Charles Ball School of Music University of Texas at Austin ckball@mail.utexas.edu
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