Is that plate broken?

[David ilvedson]

> From:          "Ken Hale" <kenhale@dcalcoda.com>
> Organization:  D C AL CODA, PianoDB
> To:            pianotech@ptg.org
> Date:          Thu, 25 Sep 1997 22:56:11 -0700
> Subject:       Is that plate broken?
> Reply-to:      pianotech@ptg.org

Many years ago I worked for a piano rental outfit...we rented 
Hamburg Steinways to artists who wanted a choice between the New 
York and the Hamburg...I was the technician who also helped move 
the pianos.  One evening we dumped a Hamburg over squarely on 
its lid..."Oh, oh".  When we got it back to the shop the only 
problems were the dags which had broke loose on impact.  It was 
still in tune (reasonably).  That piano ended up with Chick 
Corea...I think the plate will be OK if you dumped it on its 
lid...

David ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA


> Hi,
> 
> On the way to a concert an old 6' Steinway grand had an accident. It
> broke loose from the strap which was holding it up against the wall
> inside a small moving van.:-{ It seems that it landed on it's top,
> in the middle of the van floor, slightly protected by a few moving
> blankets.
> 
> There is a visible crack on the lid's treble side, the fallboard broke
> loose from the bass cheekblock hinge, cracking along it's length
> (about a foot). Some other case damage and a little action damage
> inside may be related to the fall.
> 
> The plate and soundboard look OK. It is easy to see cracks in the
> soundboard, if present. There are no visible, to my eye, cracks in the
> plate.
> 
> The owners are concerned about the plate having fine cracks that might
> not show up to the eye. It seems like a valid concern to me.
> 
> My question is how would one go about making sure that there are no
> fine cracks? One could be on the underside and not cause problems
> until one late night when the wood is creaking or I am sitting there
> lost, in listening to those beautiful intervals and shimmering beats.
> 
> I actually can not think of any way to be 100% sure, besides 
> destringing and maybe taking it to the auto repair place for one of
> those "what-da-ya-call-its" where they test for cracks in engine
> blocks. There is insurance that would probably cover it, but is it
> really necessary?
> 
> I would appreciate hearing anyone else's experience with these kinds
> of situations.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> 
> 
> Ken Hale, RPT
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> PianoDB, PianoDB95, PianoDB97
> 
> Manage your Piano Service Business
> Integrates with MS Office
> 
> Your Spell, a Text Editor/Spell Checker
> 
> D C AL CODA
> http://www.dcalcoda.com/ kenhale@dcalcoda.com
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
>