S&S capo

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Chris,
               Has the treble hammers been over doped? Also how old is the
piano? Finally has there been a noticeable difference in V bar noise since
the fall?  The voicing in this section is always critical. 

 The hardener that I have been encountering seems to take months to reach a
stable state. A new Baldwin L that I received in late October was over
doped and gave the same symptoms. as time elapsed and the humidity dropped,
the problem got worse. I have over the coarse of the winter drenched the
hammers in acetone on three separate occasions. It has washed the hardener
deep into the hammer, to the point that the bottom of the molding has a
slight white stain from the material running out. The tone is now wide and
singing with out the obnoxious percussion effect.

I apply the acetone with an eye dropper untill the hammer felt is
completely soaked. wait 5 to 10 min to allow the hardener to become
plastic, then resoak to move the hardener. It is almost like a flushing
effect. In exteme cases I have used as much as a quarter of a pint of
acetone. The first time I tried this it was scary, but I felt I had nothing
to lose as the hammers were useless the way they were sounding.

Lightly needle directly at the strike point can also help. Prop the hammers
up on a voicing block, use 3 needles and just gently push untill you feel
the needles just break the hardness. One insertion only and listen for
change. 
It will probably take several attempts to buid the tone in this register,
one small step at a time.

Regards Roger


At 01:43 PM 19/02/99 -0500, you wrote:
>dear list,
>
>we have a nice new S&S D here at the university that has a small problem
>that i am not sure how to address.  at the point in the treble where the
>capo begins i am getting a lot of noise from the non-speking length between
>the capo and the v-bar.  it's not "a lot" of noise but more than i like.  i
>have checked all the usual suspects; string level, hammer fit, bridge pins,
>strings seated, etc.  what i notice is that there is a ton of energy
>comming over the capo and into this length.  if i put my finger on that
>non-speaking length and play the note, the tone is dead.  i tried this on
>other pianos and i don't notice the same effect.  on a hard blow i am
>getting a sizzle from this section as if the string level was bad.  what's
>the deal?  should the non-speaking length be getting this much vibration
>through the capo?  why does muting that length deaden the tone so much more
>than other, similar pianos?  am i missing the obvious?
>
>thanks for your help,
>chris
>
>-Christopher D. Purdy R.P.T.   School of Music  Ohio University  Athens OH
>
>-purdy@oak.cats.ohiou.edu   (614) 593-1656    fax# (614) 593-1429
> 
Roger Jolly
Baldwin Yamaha Piano Centre
Saskatoon and Regina
Saskatchewan, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505