Sohmer

[Tom Driscoll]

Bill,Thanks for your post,.This conversion kit sounds interesting as one of
my clients has a G1 with this problem. I'll call Yamaha and inquire.As for
your soundtrack, I'm new to the list and have yet to catch up with your
reputation.Thanks for the advice , Tom Driscoll
----- Original Message -----
From: <Billbrpt@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2000 12:20 AM
Subject: Re: Sohmer


> 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