Taming the 1098

[Susan Kline]

Dear Zen,

I note at the bottom of your post that you had four of these puppies to
housetrain (speaking of pianos as pets), six weeks ago, and you planned to
observe and report, if questioned. Any conclusions, now that it's six weeks
later?

Thanks in advance. I grappled with one of these last week. Took me three
hours. I got an impact hammer recently, but I hadn't learned to use it.
Hints? (from anyone?)

Susan

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I'll quote this in its entirety, since it appeared quite awhile ago.
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At 08:09 PM 4/15/98 -0400, you wrote:
>I love 1098s!!!  Although I admit I am very curious what Del could do with
>one when given the opportunity and necessary funds to work his magic. 
>Meanwhile I have to do what I can with what I have in my customer base.
>
>One of my customers said she like the way I treated hers, because I treated
>it like a horse (she raises horses).  I was the 4th or 5th technician to
>grapple with it in 1994, and yes, it tried throwing me off the bench at
>every turn until I figured out how to sweet-talk it.
>
>Sweet-talk it is.  In pitch correction work, use less overpull than you
>normally would on other pianos and really concentrate on the setting of the
>pin and string, moreso than on a pitch correction on another piano, but not
>as much as you would on a fine tuning.  It's a hard feeling to describe,
>but it's that point when you sense that the string tension has been
>equalized by hammer technique alone.  Sure, this adds to the amount of time
>it takes to do a pitch correction pass, but it also makes it less liable to
>"go rubbery" on successive passes.  My gut sense dictates that pitch
>correction passes should be done at an even pace for the best results -- no
>potty breaks or whatever until the pass has been done in its entirety,
>unisons and all.
>
>Yes, I have vastly better results with an impact hammer than with a
>standard hammer.  It did take awhile for me to learn just what the impact
>hammer was capable of doing and how its behavior feels in my hand.  It was
>all a part of developing the sense of when the string is at an equilibrium
>with itself.
>
>Hmmm, looking at my files, I see that 4 of those 1098s are due for service
>within the next 6 weeks.  I'll try to concentrate on how best to describe
>what I'm doing next time I service one of these, should anyone still be
>interested in reading about it......
>
>Any more questions?  Comments?
>ZR!  RPT
>Ann Arbor  MI
>diskladame@provide.net
>
>----------
>> From: RIrvingbas <RIrvingbas@aol.com>
>> To: pianotech@ptg.org
>> Subject: Re:  Hammer techniques
>> Date: Tuesday, April 14, 1998 9:59 PM
>> 
>> Hi list,
>> 
>>How in the heck does one rassle a 1098 into submission?
>> What are your favorite tricks for taming this beast? 

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Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com		

"It always takes me longer to finish when I've no idea what I'm doing."
		-- Ashleigh Brilliant