Wurly Warranty Situation

[Farrell]

Wow! Thanks for the info & opinions. Yes, they will be very helpful.

> Then seat all of the coils on the tuning pins.  This procedure was
> demonstrated at a PTG one-day seminar in St. Louis by Isaac
> Sadigursky.  Don Rose also told me about this procedure, and you can ask
me
> if you want to know more about it.

I'm-a-askin'! Is this something beyond using the little hammer tool to pull
the coils tight? Please explain. And, regarding the "Amazing new tool from
Don Manino" what is that? I will also be purchasing the leveling tools from
Joe Goss.

Thanks again for all your thoughts. Very, very helpful!

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vanderhoofven" <dkvander@janics.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 2:32 PM
Subject: Re: Wurly Warranty Situation


> Dear Terry,
>
> I am not an expert, but I do work with a number of Wurlitzer pianos, new
> and used, and I have some ideas about what to do.
>
> >Hi List. I serviced a two-year-old Wurlitzer G153 yesterday.
>
> <snip>
>
>
> >My question is what constitutes a warranty claim.
> >
> >1) Certainly her two rattling bass strings should be replaced - parts and
> >labor covered - right?
>
> Broken strings and action parts are covered.  Call Baldwin tech service
and
> ask them to ship out two new strings.  I don't know if the labor is
> covered.  You will have to ask about this.
>
> As with any new string, it will go out of tune much more quickly than the
> rest of the piano.  You will need to make several return visits to retune
> the new strings.  I don't think these extra return visits are covered by
> warranty.
>
>
> >2) What about two bass notes where the partials are not even close. One
is
> >unable to tune the bicord unisons beatless. Would that be covered by a
> >warranty?
>
> Talk to Baldwin and ask.  You may find that after seating and leveling
> strings as described below, the tuning may be much clearer and the problem
> may go away.  If necessary, the strings may need to be replaced and may be
> under warranty.
>
> >3) When you depress key A1, the dampers for A1 AND G#1 raise. I have not
yet
> >taken the action out. I can see the cause of this ranging from minor (too
> >wide a key end felt) to majorish (key needs to be replaced because of
warp
> >or bad alignment problem with damper flanges, etc.). Again, whether it be
> >minor or major, I generally charge for my services, and it seems to me
this
> >should be a warranty item. Would this likely be covered by warranty
(unless
> >of course, a small christmas ornament is found stuck in there!)?
>
> Before pursuing authorization for warranty repair from Baldwin for this,
> first remove the action and see what the problem is.  There may be a
> foreign object wedged in between the two dampers or underlevers.  The
owner
> of the piano is responsible for tuning, regulation and voicing and regular
> maintenance.  These things are not covered by warranty.  Remember, the
> piano spent 1300 miles on its left side bouncing down the highway from
> Kansas to Florida.  It is possible that you will find all of the action
> parts shifted to the left and need to be respaced correctly.  It is
> possible that the action screws were never tightened, so you have loose
> screws, and you have gravity pulling all of the action parts and causing
> them to go out of alignment.  This is standard procedure after a move.
The
> customer should pay you to properly align all of the action parts and
> tighten all of the screws.  The customer should also pay you at this time
> to correct any regulation problems caused either by neglect (2 years of no
> service in the home), heavy use, or poor or nonexistent dealer prep.
>
> It is most likely that the sticking dampers would NOT be covered by
> warranty repair.  Why? It is likely that the action parts have shifted
> during the move.  It is likely that the climate in Florida is much
> different from the climate in Kansas.  The change in climate can cause all
> kinds of strange problems with pianos, including sticking keys, dampers
and
> other action parts.  It is the customers responsibility to maintain a
> proper environment in the home.  Damage caused by poor climate is not
> covered by the warranty, in my opinion.  If the indoor humidity is above
> 55% RH to 60% RH consistently, you will begin to see rust forming on the
> strings.  This is not covered by warranty, in my opinion.  Thecustomer
> needs to take proper steps to keep the piano in a good environment,
whether
> this is done with a whole house humidifier and dehumifier, room
humidifiers
> and dehumifiers, or a complete Dampp-Chaser humidity control system.  I
> suggest that you install a G6PS-50-SHB complete Dampp-Chaser system in the
> piano.  This will minimize changes in the climate, and minimize the
> potential for long-term damage to the piano.  How many pianos have you
seen
> that are rusting out prematurely in Florida?  Now is your chance to do
some
> long-term good for this piano, by preventing climate induced damage.
>
> What would be caused by warranty?  If the key end felt is too wide, take a
> sharp knife and trim it to the proper size.  If the key is warped, use
> steam and clamps and unwarp the key.  But call Baldwin and explain the
> situation to them before doing repairs, to get authorization.
>
> >4) FALSE BEATS in tenor, treble, and hi treble GALORE!
>
> <snip>
>
> >I don't know if it has loose bridge pins or what - just that it sounds
> >terrible.
> >Would pathetic conditions like these be covered in some way under a
> >warranty.
>
>
> Terry, the first thing I would do is to tighten all of the plate bolts and
> screws.  (WARNING: do not tighten the perimeter plate bolts on Baldwin
> pianos with the Accu-Just hitch pins.  Also, never tighten the plate nose
> bolts).  Then seat all of the coils on the tuning pins.  This procedure
was
> demonstrated at a PTG one-day seminar in St. Louis by Isaac
> Sadigursky.  Don Rose also told me about this procedure, and you can ask
me
> if you want to know more about it.  After you have seated and leveled all
> of the coils on the tuning pins, the pitch will have dropped up to about a
> half step or more.  At this time, also seat all of the strings at the
hitch
> pin.  (WARNING:  Do not seat the strings at the hitch pin on Baldwin
pianos
> with the Accu-Just hitch pins.)
>
> Now, do a pitch raise up to A-440.  After the pitch is at A-440, take a
> hammer shank and a very small hammer, and LIGHTLY seat all of the strings
> on the bridge, at the bridge pins.  Next remove the action, and rub the
> strings with a hammer shank at the point where they cross under the Capo
> bar in the top two sections.  Now do another pitch raise.  Next, use the
> Amazing new tool from Don Manino (order from Schaff piano supply) and
level
> all the strings at the agraffes.  You will also want to use the brass
> string level level sold by Joe Goss.  Caution, you are not bending the
wire
> to get the strings level, because this could damage the agraffe.  You are
> gently massaging the wire to straighten out that small curve in the wire
at
> the point where it contacts the agraffe or the capo bar.  This will allow
> the string to have better contact with the agraffe, producing a clearer
> tone.  This procedure was explained to me by Don Manino in a class on
> prepping new pianos.  It was also explained by Paul Revenko Jones in a
> class on agraffes and string terminations.  If you don't have clean string
> terminations, you can get false beats.  By the way, none of this work
> seating the coils on the tuning pins, doing the pitch raise, seating the
> strings the hitch pin, bridge pins, agraffe or capo bar and front duplex,
> tuning, leveling strings and tuning again is covered under warranty.  It
> will drastically improve the tuning and the clarity of the tone.  Explain
> it to the customer, but they should pay for this, not Baldwin.
>
> When the piano was delivered to the dealer from the factory, it should
have
> had a full prep before the piano was sold to the customer.  It is possible
> that the piano you are describing did not get a full prep.  Dealer prep is
> not covered by warranty.  Tuning, regulation and voicing are not covered
by
> warranty.  The customer is responsible to maintain the piano properly.
The
> warranty is to cover factory defects, broken parts, poor workmanship,
> etc.  Baldwin will go out of their way to cover warranty problems, but
make
> sure and call them and describe the situation to them.
>
> If there are loose bridge pins, I think that would certainly be covered by
> warranty.  Call and ask.
>
> >5) Hammers falling off. Warranty?
>
> If the hammers are coming unglued, call Baldwin and talk to one of the
> techs there about the situation.  It may be covered.  But it doesn't take
> too long to pop the hammer head off, clean off the old glue, and reglue it
> in place.  It is possible that a drastic change in climate between Kansas
> and Florida could cause loose glue joints.  Describe what is going on and
> let Baldwin decide whether it is covered by warranty or not.
>
>
> >I don't work on many new pianos, so I don't know what is normally covered
> >under warranties. Is Roger out there??????? He has likely seen one of
these!
> >
> >Terry Farrell
> >Piano Tuning & Service
> >Tampa, Florida
> >mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
>
>
> Terry, I hope this is helpful.  I only have seven years experience, but I
> hope that these ideas are helpful.  I have enjoyed reading your posts,
> because you have a lot of insight.
>
> For warranty service on new Baldwin, Wurlitzer, and Chickering pianos
> contact Baldwin tech service and talk to Thomas Malone or Russell
> Schmidt.  After talking with you and determining if it is a warranty
> repair, they will fax (or mail) a Warranty Repair Authorization form,
which
> needs to be signed by you and the customer and mailed back to Baldwin with
> the bill.  It is extra paperwork, but that keeps people from just mailing
> in bills to be paid without Baldwin having any idea of what is gong
> on.  Baldwin maintains a complete technical service department at the
> factory in Trumann, Arkansas.  They have a complete inventory of parts and
> ship out pretty quickly.  If a piano has damage that is extensive, the
> technical services department has a complete repair department for doing
> case repair, and anything up to and including new soundboards and
pinblocks
> is necessary.
>
> Baldwin Piano and Organ
> 900 Hwy 463
> Trumann, AR 72472-9605
> Thomas Malone or Russell Schmidt - Baldwin Warranty Service
> (877) 889-4805
>
> For Baldwin ConcertMaster service and warranty questions, contact Steve
> Bryan.  He will go out of your way to help with questions and technical
> support.  I need to give Steve Bryan a big pat on the back.  He recently
> went out of his way to ship me some items overnight in an emergency
> situation.  Thanks Steve!
>
> Baldwin Piano and Organ Company
> 4680 Parkway Drive, Suite 200
> Mason, Ohio 45040-5301
> Steve Bryan - ConcertMaster
> (800) 876-2976 x 4601
> fax (513) 754-4830
> e-mail: steve.bryan@bpao.com
>
> I hope this info is helpful.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> David A. Vanderhoofven
> Registered Piano Technician
> Baldwin ConcertMaster installation and service
> Joplin, Missouri
>
> (In the interest of full disclosure, I have been to the Baldwin factory
> twice for training.  In 1993 I attended the Technical Seminar taught by
> Kent Webb.  In August 2000 I attended the ConcertMaster installation and
> servicing course.  I tune Baldwin pianos for a local dealer, and I grew up
> playing an ebony Baldwin R.  I am purely self-employed, and take no
> commissions from any dealer or manufacturer.  I do however, earn a large
> portion of my income from tuning and servicing Baldwin, Chickering and
> Wurlitzer pianos.)
>