Hi Jon. I have a couple of questions regarding your post. "...Delignit pin block.....the bridge looked great, just like I put it in." Interesting, especially in light of Del's recent comment about horizontally laminated bridge caps. I would wonder about the potential impact of a glue layer being exposed right at the string side of a bridge pin - so that the string is laying on hard glue, rather than beech or maple. Could this cause a buzz??? Don't tell me Samick has been at the forefront of piano design since the beginning! "people falling for the "stiff action" PR" I realize you are referring to verdigris or heavy action from poor geometry inherent to a seemingly high percentage of S&S grands. But, what I have not heard in all it full gory detail (being that I have only been nosing about in pianos for 4 years), is any marketing crud - whether from Steinway or from the dealer, new or used - that is directed at turning a defect into a positive selling point. This sounds like too much fun. Please give me all the crud!!! "Correlation? Tuning perseption, what is 'good sounding'" How do some of you tuners answer that question. I tuned a little 1952 Wurlitzer spinet at a dance hall yesterday. The Broadway-hardened (I gotta get out of this town!) older lady told me that another local RPT had tuned it 5 months ago and she did not like his work, nor him, nor his wife (to the best of my knowledge he is a super nice guy, and one of the best tuners around - never met the wife). I did a 10 cent pitch raise and tuned it with a Young temperament. She liked it. She told me that in three months they were hosting some kind of dance competition and one of the requirements is that the piano be "freshly tuned". She asked if it will be "freshly tuned" in three months, and how long the tuning will last. I gave her the standard stuff - a concert piano is tuned for every performance (why? - 'cause it's out of tune!), many teachers & professionals like a 3 month schedule, I generally recommend 6 months for the average residential piano, and some folks are quite happy to wait longer. But that is a very difficult question to answer. Is there anything else that anyone has used to better characterize the piano going out of tune as I drive to the bank with their check (I usually don't phrase it quite that way)? Terry Farrell Piano Tuning & Service Tampa, Florida mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Page" <jonpage@mediaone.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 10:40 PM Subject: Re: Piano Warrenty/False Beats > At 05:26 PM 01/16/2001 -0600, you wrote: > > >We both know the only way to really solve this problem is to either > > >discontinue the use of bridge pins as we know them and develop something > > >else entirely, or switch to horizontally laminated bridge cap stock. > > > > > >I realize that neither of these options has much chance of being adopted > > >right away. They are simply not 'traditional.' > > > > > >Del > > > >Yea we do, and no they aren't. Pity. So perhaps for those very reasons, the > >manufacturers should be bugged about it at every opportunity. Kawai did, > >after all, have the sense and guts to buck tradition and entrenched > >plastiphobia with the ABS action parts. Maybe eventually, the builders will > >answer the warranty hotline instead of the designers and start a thought > >process or two. Somebody's got to do it. > > > > > >Ron N > > > I replaced a bass bridge cap on an old player upright, which had been > 'restored' > by the local duct tape and silicone caulking guy, with a Delignit pin block > material > cap about eight years ago. > > The piano was recently given to someone who called me to 'get it working'. > "I don't want to spend a lot of money on this", they say as you walk in the > door. > > AH! this ole wreck, with careful explanation I point out to the customer > what is > involved to "just" get it operating (to see what doesn't work'). > > Sparing you the gory details, I was able to get the piano to play-away. > I had to insist, no, stand my ground on giving it a rudimentary tuning which he > agreed later was an improvement. > > OK, so this is driving nails into concrete. But I received a call today > from an accomplished > pianist to replace a few broken strings on a S&S B. I mentioned that it > has been a while > since the last tuning and that it might be a good time to tune it as > well. They said that it's > sounding quite well and that it's better this way because after a tuning it > takes a few weeks > before likes it sounds good. I had suspected this from our brief > encounters and never really > gave it more than a brisk once-over. Either it says something about my > tuning or about some > persons in a piano-oriented directorial position. This piano, I can > catagorize as the worst B > on the market. The jack halts the key, 1/16" before the front rail > felt. Talk about poor geometry > and people falling for the "stiff action" PR. Of course I increased the > hammer blow and attenuated > the key dip; which threw it out ot proper specs but, it worked. No money > to 'make it right' just 'make it work' > Standard Operting Procedure. > > Oh yeah, the bridge looked great, just like I put it in; and the piano > wasn't too flat , considering. > > I think pianos fit somewhere between romance and reality. yesterday I > was at someone's house... > well, that's another story, > > Regards from the field (the shop's too full to tear apart another piano, > send customers), > > > Correlation? Tuning perseption, what is 'good sounding' > > > > Jon Page, piano technician > Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. > mailto:jonpage@mediaone.net > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >
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