Have you totally ruled out the hammers? David Love ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nichols" <nicho@lascruces.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: July 28, 2001 4:51 PM Subject: Heimlich this Henry F. Miller > 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 >
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