Piano Brand Name Puzzler

[Kevin E. Ramsey]

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Yes Bill, I agree. When I approach a piano, I always do my utmost to =
service it well, and to see how much I can improve it. My dislike of =
Kimball comes from only being able to reach a certain level of =
performance before the piano stops me, because it would be impossible to =
go further with it, without rebuilding and or re-designing it.
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Billbrpt@AOL.COM=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 10:17 PM
  Subject: Re: Piano Brand Name Puzzler


  In a message dated 1/8/01 10:23:27 PM Central Standard Time,=20
  mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com (Farrell) writes:=20


    Kimball


  How on earth did you guess.  I should add that the tuning pins were =
driven to=20
  the proper depth, the coils were neat and uniform and the feel was =
firm but=20
  easily moved without any jumping.  It was easy to tune compared =
especially to=20
  some of the pianos mentioned recently on this List, including =
Steinway, both=20
  grand and upright.  There was not a hint of false beating.  The high=20
  inharmonicity scale actually works to my advantage in the way I tune =
both=20
  temperament and octaves. In short, I had no complaint nor any reason =
to think=20
  poorly of this piano.=20

  To me, it looked like one of Kimball's pianos from the Chicago factory =
but=20
  the tag I read clearly stated that it had been made in French Lick, IN =
with=20
  the case being made in Jasper (where they apparently still do make =
piano=20
  cases).  Everyone knows that their quality control and workmanship =
went down=20
  drastically during the '70's (and maybe a little before and after too) =
but=20
  that it did recover in the last few years of production.=20

  But couldn't that be said of Steinway too during its CBS ownership?  =
To me,=20
  the Teflon bushings were more of a scapegoat for numerous defects in=20
  workmanship.  The materials were sometimes questionable but the =
workmanship=20
  made matters much worse.  I think you could say the same for Kimball =
when it=20
  was at its worst.=20

  One long term client of mine who is also a good friend who throws an =
annual=20
  wine and cheese party has a Kimball Viennese edition upright.  He =
hires a=20
  pianist to play for the event.  At that last event, I heard the owner =
ask the=20
  pianist what he thought of the piano.  His answer was "rich tone".  It =
really=20
  surprised me because I was thinking exactly the same thing.=20

  Everyone knows about the bad ones but I think its important to note =
that as a=20
  company, Kimball was capable of and did produce some good pianos.  =
Their old=20
  grands had a really rich tone like none other and their really old =
uprights=20
  were very well made although their brass flanges were not easy to =
service.=20

  Coincidentally, my 3rd appointment of the day was another Kimball, =
this time=20
  a "Kimballette" from the Chicago factory in the 1950's.  It had a =
direct blow=20
  action but had keys with a big step in them.  It was very out of tune =
and=20
  hardly played at all because there was so much lost motion that the =
hammers=20
  just bobbled against the strings.  The keys appeared unlevel and =
floating. =20
  There was so much lost motion in the pedals that they barely worked.  =
It=20
  sounded terrible and was unplayable.=20

  Now, I have 90 minutes and can decide to turn it down, badmouth the=20
  manufacturer and make the customer feel stupid for even having this =
thing in=20
  his living room and thinking it is a piano or I can use the knowledge =
and=20
  skills I have built over the years and make this instrument capable of =

  playing music.  I wouldn't earn much money doing the first option but =
I would=20
  doing the second.=20

  So, in checking things out, I see that the capstans need a full turn =
or more.=20
   It could use cleaning but no keys were sticking so I decided to do a =
capstan=20
  adjustment only.  The alignment was good and there were no rattling =
flanges=20
  and the let-off was reasonable close.  Taking up the lost motion also =
made=20
  the dampers lift properly.  But there is no capstan tool I know of =
that will=20
  even reach these capstans, not to mention all of the tedious turning.=20

  The best technique is to pull the key out and give the capstan the =
estimated=20
  turn easily with the key in hand.  Just as in tuning, making a =
technique like=20
  this work requires being able to make a good estimate.  The goal is to =
move=20
  through all of the capstans quickly and easily, avoiding stress and to =
pick=20
  out just a few here or there that were a bit over or under turned.=20

  As often happens, when I finish, the customer knows it and comes out =
saying,=20
  "Now that's *beautiful*!"  I never get tired of hearing that.  He sat =
down to=20
  play and I heard the word "yes" and the sighs and/or moans of pleasure =
that I=20
  hear from nearly anyone who plays a piano I have tuned and serviced.  =
He told=20
  me he was glad he had found me because he had about given up hope that =
this=20
  piano would ever sound and play right.  He said, in fact, "All the =
other=20
  tuners I ever got *hated* it".=20

  Well, I didn't hate it at all, obviously, but what I really did enjoy =
was the=20
  reaction of the customer to 90 minutes of good solid technique applied =

  efficiently and effectively.  I also enjoyed the nice 3 figure check =
that he=20
  wrote for my work.  To paraphrase Liberace, "I hated that Kimball all =
the way=20
  to the bank".=20

  Bill Bremmer RPT=20
  Madison, Wisconsin=20

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