new one

[Greg Torres]

Pianoman,

I have heard of an insect called  the "powder-post beetle" and I have heard
from other techs that they can tear up a piano similar to the way termites do
but only quicker. Looking forward to the bug man's diagnosis....

Regards,
Greg Torres

Pianoman wrote:

> Today I ran across something I have never seen before.  This fellow called
> me up for a tuning appointment for his Baldwin console.  It had been about
> 5 years since last tuned and he said he thought he had a bug problem as
> something had eaten through the protective felt covering over the pinblock.
> When I got there this morning and opened the lid, WOW.  There was one place
> about 4 inches in diameter eaten through down into the wood in back of the
> pinblock and directly above that into the bottom surface of the lid.  I
> told him that the felt covering should be removed so we could see the
> extent of the damage.  He tore it off and all along the top were gaping
> holes and the space between the back post ends were hollow from being eaten
> away.  In addition, I guess because the filler block had been eaten away
> the pinblock was separated from the back about 1/8" or so .  The dampers
> were not raising from the strings properly and the pitch was over -120c
> flat in the middle and worse towards the treble end.  I told him that the
> normal fix was to pull the front to the back with clamps and put in lag
> screws gluing everything back together but the problem was that there is
> nothing to glue the pinblock back to.  Strangely enough there was no other
> damage over the rest of the piano inside or out.  I don't know enough about
> termites but it would seem that they would be damaging something else close
> by.  He said the piano had been in the same place for over 10 years.  I
> advised that he call an exterminator to check out the damage and to see if
> he could recognize the perpetrator.  The eaten away part was a drab gray
> flaky color.  I advised also to check with his insurance to see if he had
> any coverage due to insect damage and wrote on his receipt that I thought
> the piano was a total loss and see if that would get him anywhere.
> Remember this is not in the tropics where this may be common, it is the St.
> Louis suburbs not far from where I live.
>         Do you think I gave the right advice?
>
> James Grebe
> R.P.T. from St. Louis
> pianoman@inlink.com
> "I am only as good as my last tuning"