"Midi Systems"

[Larry Fisher]

>From: Daleboy@aol.com

>        I have a customer with a Yamaha C3.....wants desperately to have a
>midi settup installed.

Does the customer want to choose their own tone module or would they like
you to do that??

>       Contacted Yamaha already.........gave me the name Gulbranssen.....no
>address or phone number so it didn't really do me a lotta good.

Gulbransen, (Jack Butler, 1-800-757-6434) has a photo optic sensor strip
with a very basic control box (model KS 5) along with a few other models
that do more, and tone modules that have lots of voices and such.  

Music Systems Research  (1-916-567-9999) has a product called QuietTime
that uses TFT (touch film technology, or piezo strips) on their sensor
strip along with a choice of two tone modules, the GT90 and the GT360.
This system comes with a rail that stops the hammers at a point VERY near
factory specs let off (3-5 mm) that you can activate or deactivate
depending on your preference.

You can use MSR's QuietTime to activate any tone module on the market that
has standard MIDI IN/OUT/THRU jacks on them.  I've installed a Korg, and a
Technics using the sensor strip mentioned above along with the muting rail
also mentioned above (basically the QT without the GT360).

>       By the way, this about the extent I'm willing to disect a grand in the
>name of "Hi-Tech" retrofits. Thanks!

It can be a bit unsettling if you're not used to carving up someone's
piano.  If you've never done a pin block before, that too can be a bit
scary.  Putting in a QT or facsimile thereof, can be a bit humbling, and it
does indeed make you think, and plan and move carefully.  But it's not as
involved as installing a playback system.  On some grands you'll need to
drill a hole in the webbing (??) part of the horn.  The rest is really
quite simple and just needs to be planned very carefully.  If this is your
first, you'll need to drag the piano into your shop ..........  if you've
got one.  I've installed these things in the home, but I also like to tempt
fate right up to the limits, .......... like teasing a cat or dog until
the teeth start to show, or the claws start to glow!!!

Good luck Dale, and feel free to contact me if you need any further insults
... er.... ah insights eh??

Lar


                                    Larry Fisher RPT
   specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
      phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
         http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
           Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water