Kawai piano needs orthodonture

[Farrell]

I agree with Greg 1,000% - the fireplace is a killer (as in piano death, not
just poor tuning stability - ten feet - ouch!).

As for the key leveling, I have only one question to ask: what kind of
center rail felt punchings are you using???? I used to use the various
thicknesses of white felt center rail punchings for key leveling - untill I
found that my key leveling jobs were going to.....er, ah, heck. Now I use
the thin hitch pin punchings sold by the supply houses (I get mine from
Pianotek). Thin felt - little compression - use the thickest and least
number of paper punchings - and now I have key leveling that lasts (thanks
Ron N. for this tip)!

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: Kawai piano needs orthodonture


> Tom,
>     First, the fireplace is a killer. Nothing will ever stay stable in the
same
> room as a bonfire. That being said the keys are a bit of a mystery unless
, of
> course, you iron the balance rail and front rail punchings prior to
installation
> like I do. I've never had a problem once I started doing that. Hope this
helps!
>
> Greg
>
> Tvak@AOL.COM wrote:
>
> > Last year, I helped some good friends of mine find a piano.  After a
couple
> > of months looking, I found a Kawai console which they purchased last
January
> > (2001).  This piano dates back to the late 70s with one owner, a
professor
> > and musician;  the instrument was in very good condition with little
hammer
> > wear.
> >     I tuned it for them and did a full regulation of the piano,
including
> > setting key height and key dip.  Now, just 13 months later, the keys are
not
> > level any longer.  And I'm not being picky here, this keyboard looks
like it
> > needs orthodonture.  I would expect a leveled keyboard to last for years
> > before it needed leveling again.
> >     What would cause this?
> >     I can guarantee there are no children banging on the keys, as the
parents
> > are professional musicians and I am confident that this would never take
> > place in their home.    The humidity level in their home is at 21%,
which
> > seems very low to me, but then, I leveled the keys last January when the
> > humidity was probably close to the same.
> >     This piano also goes out of tune amazingly fast in spite of the pins
> > being tight in the block.   I can see why it would be out of tune from
my
> > last tuning in August, now that the humidity in the home is so low, but
I
> > tuned it one week ago and today there were 3 or 4 unisons which had
drifted
> > dramatically.  This is not a one time event, either;  I am always
> > disappointed when I visit them to find how poorly the piano has held its
> > tune.
> >     The piano itself seems fine to me.  The work I did on it is the same
work
> > I've done on other pianos.   I have mentioned to them that the low level
of
> > humidity was not good for the piano and could possibly be causing these
> > problems and I got the fish-eye.  I'm afraid they think that there's
either
> > something wrong with the piano, or me, and they're leaning towards me on
that
> > issue.
> >         Could the low humidity be at the bottom of all of this?  The
piano is
> > NOT near a heat vent, it's even sitting on an inner wall.  There is a
fire
> > place across the room about 10 feet away.   They use it frequently.
> >     What's going on here?
> >
> > Any thoughts are appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Tom Sivak
>
> --
> Greg Newell
> mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net
>
>