Birdcage

[Les Smith]

On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, Ted Simmons wrote:

> I agree wholeheartedly with you, Les.  But if anyone does intend to tune
> one don't bother with rubber mutes or a strip mute.  The Papp's mute was
> invented for just that purpose (I learned that through this list).  It
> slips between the hammer shanks and does an adequate job.
> 
> 
> >Birdcages are for the birds, NOT piano tuners.  

Hi, Ted:

The rubber mutes I was referring to are those on wire handles. One
Papp mute won't do the job, you're going to need a bunch of them. And
although I do occasionally use one, it's been my experience that in-
stead of completely muting out the string, or strings, they allow some
leakage of sound which can confuse the tuner. So it boils down to a matter
of choice. Whether you prefer a Papp's mute, or a wire-handled rubber
mute, when doing s birdcage, you're going to need a number of them. Of
course, far and away the BEST choice, is to choose not to tune a bird-
cage at all.  To the young hot-shots out there. who are convinced that
we older tuners are full of it and are going to try tuning a birdcage,
despite what we might say, I do have an additional suggestion to make.    
If you are bound and determined to tune birdcage pianos, at least have 
common sense to increase your tuning fee accordingly. Double your nomal
fee is about right. ALSO, in adiition to the difficulties presented to
the tuner by its birdcage action, expect to find the piano a major third
or so flat of pitch, the tuning pins loose, the bass bridge self-des-
tructing, the hammers worn flat, the dampers leaking badly, the action
last regulated a hundred years--or more--before you were born, and re-
member that any semblence of a tuning you do put on this piano will be
wildly unstable because it's only tuned a couple of times per century--
whenever anyone dumb enough to take the job comes along! :)

Les Smith