Steinway D Duplex

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Dianne Salem wrote:

> >> I am working on a Steinway Model D that was rebuilt by another technician
> >> about 2 years ago.  The middle treble rear duplex has been shimmed up by
> >> just over 1/16".  I wonder if anybody has had any experience doing this and
> >> if so, what would indicate the necessity for this, and what were the
> >> effects both positive and potentially negative...  Also, duplex bar in the
> >> raised section is not aligned at all properly, i.e. 4 strings up on one
> >> aliquot, 2 on the next, one down, 3 up, etc.  This will be realigned, but
> >> would like some input on the shim at the same time...
> >>
> >> There is a very "dead" section in this piano (Octave 4) that none of the
> >> obvious has remedied -- section just below the raised duplex section.  This
> >> is our concert instrument here, so any input on these matters would be
> >> greatly appreciated!


> >Questions:
> >
> >What work was done to it during its "rebuild" and how old is the piano?
> >
> >--ddf


> Thank you so much for your reply to my SOS.  Serial Number of this Steinway
> D is  379845.  I don't have my atlas with me here, but I believe that would
> place it at about 1963.  This piano has original bridges, soundboard and
> pinblock.  Sound board and plate were refinished, and piano was restrung.
> Action was rebuilt with all Steinway parts.

OK. Now I’ll say it—I’ve seen all of the duplex bars in Steinway grands
shimmed up at one time or another. Including some on a few new pianos
that were put there at the factory. It’s done to adjust for slightly
excessive down bearing in that area. I’ve seen downbearing measurements
ranging from slightly negative to 2 plus degrees in pianos from this
era. You’ll have to check downbearing through this section to determine
whether or not to leave the shims in place. As far as I’m concerned,
there is nothing really wrong with this practice. If the down bearing is
excessive, it’s a good way of relieving some of it without having to
pull the plate. With one 1960’s vintage D we rebuilt a couple of years
back, we found so much bearing on the board that we had to raise the
plate height somewhat and shim up the aliquot bars.

In fact you’ll need to check downbearing throughout the scale. Once you
know what you have for a string load on the soundboard, you’ll have at
least some idea as to how to proceed. I’d guess that the plate was
lowered a bit to pick up some bearing elsewhere, but you’ll have to
measure to be sure. You might also want to crawl underneath and check
soundboard crown. (Let me know what you find.)

Now for the (potential) bad news. I’m assuming that you’ve already
checked the condition of the hammers to be sure that they’re reasonably
well shaped and not been overly needled. (What kind of hammers are on
the piano? Steinway?) Actually, you need to be sure that they’ve not
been first over-shaped and over-lacquered and then over-needled as is
the practice of some with problem Steinways. If you can assure yourself
that this is not the case, then you may be looking at a new soundboard
to really fix the problem. The range from the fourth through the sixth
octave is a particularly troublesome one in the D and it’s basically a
soundboard problem. Generally sustain drops off first and then the
hammer voicing merry-go-round starts. Unfortunately, if this is a
soundboard problem, no amount of hammer voicing is going to cure it.

Well, check everything else first. 

—ddf