older Steinway whippens

[Jon Page]

Barring tight centers causing sluggishness, what _was_their intent
for their request to "make it better"? Maybe the excessive L/O was
detracting from dynamic expressions in the ppp range.
Do they play_that_well?

A quick in-field or bench top approach to the gunk in the slot
on the balancier is to make a hook on the end of a mute handle.
Dull the point appropriately. Once the springs have been dislodged
from the slots, this hook will get up in there to plow-out the gunk.
Steel wool on the wire to clean and a slight strengthening bend,
a dab of lube and reinstall the spring. Raise the hammer line,
adj. backchecks, adj rep. springs, adj. L/O & drop.
You are now in the ballpark,
from here a proper evaluation may be made.

Depending on: key dip (too shallow of a dip will inhibit possibilities),
balancier/jack height, damper lift; this quick piano-top, top action adj.
can be done in less than an hour an a half and this will make them
aware of your capabilities and possibably made you aware that
these old whips still have some life in them.  Old does not equal bad.
    (Commercial:  sorry, can't resist  :-)
      It was this kind of action enhancement which spawned the TLRG)

I've seen too many (way too many) action replacements which
actually created problems with playing.

Being a technician, if you can't get these to work;
how can you get new ones to work?

Jon Page
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
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Advise is difficult on speculative assessment. I am assuming that
the whippens function and are not breaking.
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At 08:44 PM 8/12/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Bubba say: "Good judgement come from experience, Experience come from bad
>judgement."
>
>Soften 'em up for the possible (probable) action replacement if stage one
>doesn't work out, and try to salvage and regulate what's there. You have
>given them the message that you are trying to find an optimum
>cost/performance mix for their specific circumstance. If you find more
>problems than gratification in the process, they have been advised of the
>possibility and generally don't kick too much about the cost of doing it
>right from the ground up. On the other hand, if your attempted regulation of
>the existing action parts proves workable, you become an instant hero, pay
>for the time spent in the attempt, and build a foundation of credibility for
>future work on this piano, or any referrals that are forthcoming as a
>result. The important thing here, in my opinion, is to let the customer know
>EXACTLY what the situation is, in your opinion, so they will know what is
>happening, and why, through the entire process. I have found people to be
>pretty willing to work with me on things like this if I can just get across
>to them what the situation is, what the options are, and what the fall-back
>contingencies entail. Piece of cake, right? (HA!) 
> 
>For further clarification, just mail in a SASE and $2,000 to...
>
>
>
>At 07:51 PM 8/12/98 -0400, you wrote:
>>At 06:42 PM 8/12/98 EDT, you wrote:
>>>My recommendation would be to encourage your customer to rebuild the action
>>>with all new parts. If they don't want to do that, I would suggest you walk
>>>away from it. 
>>>
>>>This is a case where the rebuilder did more harm than good by not doing it
>>>right in the first place. For you to try to fix his problems it is going to
>>>more headaches than you probably want to undertake. The bottom line is that
>>>your customer will want the job done right. So unless you have new parts to
>>>work with, it's just not going to work. 
>>>
>>>Willem Blees RPT
>>>St. Louis
>>>
>>>
>>He never said the old parts were failing. How can he be sure the parts are
>>not 
>>worthy if he doesn't attempt regulating them. This is where experience is
>>achieved. You might surprise yourself at how good those whippens can be.
>>
>>I have many old actions in customer's homes which function satisfactorily.
>>
>>New parts are not always the answer.
>>
>>Jon Page
>>Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
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>>
>>	
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>>
>
> Ron 
>
>