Sohmer

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 10/16/00 10:39:53 PM Central Daylight Time, 
tomtuner@mediaone.net (Tom Driscoll) writes:

<< Bill, Please don't misunderstand my contribution to this thread on sohmer. 
>>

It always seems that people see flames leaping out and hear the music from 
"Psycho" (SCREECH-SCREEECH-SCREECH!!!) no matter what I write.  The truth is, 
Tom, that I never even read your post.  I am, however, opposed to any 
categorical "bashing" of any given make of piano.  Recently, Kristinn of 
Iceland who happens to be interested in what I do, wrote that he disliked 
Sohmers.  I saw lots of Sohmer responses after that but skimmed through and 
did not read all of them

Jim, however, even though we often disagree and I often dislike what he 
writes, sometimes writes things that I am in total agreement with.  In this 
case, I happened to pick up on what he wrote about that brand of piano.

Believe me, I know what you are talking about.  I tune a few Sohmers that are 
in the school system here and some in homes too.  Climate control is the key. 
 Sohmer is not the only brand that has a scale design weakness in the low 
tenor.  The Yamaha G1 (maybe GH1 too) that has plain wire all the way down to 
B2 has very much the same problem yet many prominent customers: hotels, 
schools, churches and people with nice, big homes have this piano.  I can 
fully imagine that when they looked at the G1 and say, a C3, they both looked 
the same and probably sounded the same as far as they were concerned, so they 
bought the cheaper one.

 Any piano built with thin, plain wire deep into the low tenor will not stay 
in tune well at all through humidity changes.  Yamaha has other scale designs 
which have wound strings in this portion.  There is also a conversion kit 
that you can get to improve that portion of the piano if it was made that 
way.  I did it once for a piano teacher who complained about this very same 
problem.  I told her what the reason was and she suggested that I call the 
manufacturer to ask if there was a solution for it.  I was quite surprised 
and pleased to hear of the kit and that I was quite correct in my 
identification of the problem.  That piano has stayed very nicely in tune 
ever since.  

In the case of this teacher who would like some semblance of tuning 
stability, I too, recommend a full 50 watt humidity control system and a 
cover for the back.  After it has had the system in place for a while, it 
would be a good idea to go through and tighten whichever plate bolts you can. 
 Even tilting the piano on its back and removing the bottom board so you can 
get at the bottom plate bolts would be a good idea.

After that, tap down the strings on the bridges (maybe make adjustments to 
the pressure bar too if you really think it needs it) and give the piano a 
really good, solid tuning.  Make sure that it is not kept in a place where 
the sun shines directly on it at any time during the day or is even near 
direct sunlight.  If people want some different response from that piano, 
they have to be willing to accept the reality of what it takes to get it.

If the piano responds to all of this but is still not quite satisfactory in 
the low tenor, one last ditch effort would be to rescale just this portion, 
say from F3-C4.  Converting the two lowest tenor notes to wound strings and 
beefing up the wire above that would go a long way in providing something 
that you could expect to stay better in tune.

Regards,

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin