Phil: To respond to your questions; 1.> Do players make up 15% of current piano sales? I haven't seen the exact figures, but it wouldn't surprise me. Music Systems research (PianoDisc) is one of the biggest success storys in the last ten years and has given the piano market in general a big shot in the arm. 2.>As an apprentice, are you taking on to much with PianoDisc at this time? I suppose it depends on the individual and how much you can handle. You should have a good knowledge of piano technology before you get into PianoDisc, since once a piano becomes a player, the interaction between the piano and the system requires a thorough knowledge of both if you are going be able to make needed adjustments and repairs. 3.> Why does it sound like the player sustain is doing a 1/2 pedal effect? The answer is that it shouldn't be. The large sustain solonoid located under the piano (in grands) should always lift the dampers completely off the strings, but at the same time, not lifting any farther than neccesary. Excessive travel will cause noise during sustain operation. Anyway, the most common reason for the dampers not lifting far enough is a pedal solonoid out of regulation. Sometimes just transporting the piano can knock this adjustment out of whack, or hours of operation compressing the felt can create lost motion and this 1/2 pedal effect. Usually adjusting the long hex nut on the pedal solonoid until the damper lift tray is nuzzeled up to the damper levers will take care of the problem. One other possibility is that the pedal hold and strike force srews need to be regulated to give the solonoid more power to lift the dampers. I would not attempt this however until you have learned the system. 4.> It sounds like the let-off needs regulation? Only if it sounds like it needs it when the piano is played manually. If the hammers blubber only when the system is playing the piano, it probably means that the key solonoid rails are set to low below the rear of the keys which means that under these circumstances, the travel of the key solonoid is insufficiant to attain full key dip. Remove the key slip and watch while a disc plays to see if the keys make it all the way down to the punchings. If not, this is most likely the problem and the rails need to be raised as high as possible without any winking keys. This should be done by a certified tech. 5.> At low volume settings, the keys barely move and don't play. On this piano the low rails may be a contributing factor but generally this is because the minimum velocity program has not been run. On this program, each individual key solonoid is regulated for the minimum force that will ever be applied to the key during playback to insure that notes will not drop out at low volume settings. The sad fact is that the tech that did this installation did not do a good job. (Either that or the piano has gone way too long without service) Just like the in the world of piano techs, there are the good and the bad and the ugly. When the PianoDisc systems first came out, everyone and their dogs were putting them in with sometimes grim results. If the system is not installed and set up properly, it makes the product and everyone involved look bad. So several years ago, PianoDisc started to require factory training and certification to reduce these problems and it has helped. PianoDisc will only honor its warranty if the system is serviced by a certified tech. I hope that this info has helped. Dave Bunch Dave Bunch Piano Service PDtek@aol.com http://members.aol.com/pdtek/piano.html
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