No Pinblock

[Mark Bolsius]

David
Here in Australia we have a piano that also doesn't have a traditional
pinblock. The Beale -Vader system was developed around the turn of the
century by an Australian and German joint venture. It  featured a tuning pin
that looks normal from the front but as it enters the plate it flares out
and is given tension from behind by a grub screw. Metal against metal. The
concept was developed to combat the severe climate here...particularly
inland. They work very well, too well in fact. The pianos are so stable that
people never tune them and the pins tend to bind or rust into place and can
snap off if tuning is attempted without loosening the pin first.
At least when a tuning pin is loose or tight, it's just a matter of removing
the back cover plate and adjusting the tension with grub screw. Musically
however, they are not my favourite piano, they do lack subtlety.
They stopped production of this system in the 60's and went out of business
altogether in the mid 70's. Couldn't remain competitive against the newly
arrived Japanese instruments
Cheers
Mark Bolsius

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From: IgorKatz2U@AOL.COM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: No Pinblock
Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 3:20 PM


 I recently tuned a Wurlitzer grand serial #119524 which was made in 1931.
When I looked to see what kind of condition the pinblock was in I was
surprised to see there wasn't any.  The tuning pins look completely normal
from above but when you look under the plate they stick out and their
bottoms
are split with metal wedges inserted into them.  Apparently the pins are
machined into the plate.  The torque was very tight on all the pins.  One of
them was broken.  It looks to me that the wedge could be taken out and a
screwdriver could be inserted to turn the pin out.  I would assume the new
pin
would have to be custom made at a machine shop.  Is anybody familiar with
this
system and if so what do you recommend?
 I can't imagine having to restring this piano considering how tight the
pins
are.  Maybe that's why they stopped making them.  It was nice tuning since
the
pin movements were smooth.  You could pull the strings right to pitch
without
any over pull.

David Porter
St. Louis, MO