Heimlich this Henry F. Miller

[Nichols]

Hi,
         Wondering if anybody has any ideas on opening-up the tone on a 
1900 Henry F. Miller 5'7" that I encountered today. It's a massive thing, 
with a "full perimeter" style plate, so wide in the tail that it's almost 
square, no capo, and aggraffes for all 88. You know the one.
         From C5 on up it sounds like it's choking to death, and my guess 
is that the board is overloaded. I didn't run out in the drizzle to get my 
bubble gauge, but the rocker gauge indicated lots of bearing. Hard to tell 
about the crown in that section, for various reasons, other than it's not 
reversed.
         The way this plate is built, I had the thought that maybe I could 
just ease up on the plate a little. There are strut bolts just aft of where 
the capo would cross-connect if it existed, one strut bolt where the upper 
bass strut crosses the tenor, one slotted nut in the webbing amongst the 
hitch pins around B6 (+/-), and plenty of nice big perimeter bolts. The 
struts are battleship size, and the sound port area is almost filled in 
with webbing. Thing must weigh half a ton!
         I was able to check a twin (serial #'s within a year) that has a 
great tone, and the bearing was very positive, but not as pronounced as the 
choked-up piano.
         Down-pitching, unhooking, and de-pinning so I could plane the 
bridge is an option, of course, but I thought I'd check the experience of 
this esteemed group first.

         Thanks in advance,

Guy Nichols, RPT




"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."
    -- Duke Ellington, when asked his response to racial discrimination