Billing for Sostenuto Work

[Vanderhoofven]

At 09:27 PM 8/15/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi David!

For now, my best
>suggestion would be to try to figure out how long the job would have taken
>if this hadn't been your first encounter with this problem and charge
>accordingly.  In doing so, also figure in the frequency of occurrence of
>this problem.  Given that true sostenuto mechanisms are relatively rare in
>uprights, you have the option of figuring in a scarcity factor.

The problem is, I have never done this before, so I don't know how long it
SHOULD take.  What is an average time to regulate a sostenuto pedal from
scratch, AFTER the other regulation is done?  How often do you encounter
the need to regulate an upright sostenuto system?  How long did it take the
last time you did it?

>Now to go outside of billing matters.  What kind of upright are we talking
>about anyway?  Steinway?  Yamaha?  Something else?  The story goes that
>Steinway at one time used neoprene tabs on its upright sostenuto
>mechanisms, and my, the stories I've heard about the difficulties in
>regulating them.  They were notoriously difficult and did take a long time,
>or so I understand.

This one is a Steinway with felt tabs.


>What was the nature of the problem?  A friend once said, "It's easy -- just
>keep in mind that the only time the sostenuto can work is when the dampers
>are lifted from the strings."  He was right.  And yes, sometimes a damper
>regulation job comes as part of the package, and that can take awhile (so
>charge for that accordingly).  It's axiomatic -- the more consistent the
>functioning of the dampers, the easier it will be to adjust the sostenuto
>and the better the results.

Before I came there, the dampers lifted extremely unevenly with the pedal
and with the key.  None of the sostenuto tabs would lift when the sustain
pedal was depressed and then the sostenuto pedal was depressed afterward.
About a quarter of the sostenuto tabs would lift with the key, most didn't
lift.  Also, the screw that goes through the sostenuto rod bracket was
sticking out far enought to buzz on the bass strings.  

Now the screw doesn't buzz, and more than half of the sostenuto tabs will
lift with the key and with the sustain and sostenuto pedals depressed.
However, now there is a bad squeak in one or two of the teflon bushings,
and I think I bent the sostenuto rod during my attempts to make the screw
stop buzzing.  Now the rod turns freely in the treble section, but in the
bass it barely turns at all and is binding.


>Do you have the Technical Reference Manual from Steinway?  That has very
>specific instructions on how to adjust upright sostenuto mechanisms.  It's
>a great manual to have even if you don't service a lot of Steinways.

Yes, I have the Steinway Technical Reference Manual, just forgot to bring
it with me to the appointment.

>Good luck --
>
>ZR!  RPT
>Ann Arbor  MI
>diskladame@provide.net


Thanks for the suggestions.  Israel Stein gave me some very good pointers,
but if you have any other suggestions I would sure love to hear them.

Thanks!

David 


David A. Vanderhoofven, RPT
Joplin, Missouri, USA        
e-mail:  dkvander@clandjop.com

web page:  http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/
#pianotech page:  http://www.clandjop.com/~dkvander/ircpiano.html