Jesse French Plastic

[Ray T. Bentley]

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John,

The damper levers are indeed plastic in this piano. Many notes actually =
play without the backchecks, but the ringing dampers make it unusable.  =
How unfortunate that the decision was made to use plastic in the =
manufacture of this piano at that time!

Ray


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ray T. Bentley, RPT
Registered Piano Tuner-Technician
Alton, IL
ray@bentley.net
www.ray.bentley.net


  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: John Ross=20
  To: Pianotech=20
  Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 9:17 AM
  Subject: Re: Jesse French Plastic


  Hi Ray,
  I resurrected a Heintzman, with the same problem, the action had been =
manufactured in the U.S., in the 50's.
  I got the parts from Schaff, and they went on with no problem that I =
can remember,
  I don't believe the damper levers were plastic, just the flanges,  =
backchecks and jacks.
  Replacing all the plastic parts, is the only way to go.
  Regards,
  John M. Ross
  Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
  jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
    ----- Original Message -----=20
    From: Ray T. Bentley=20
    To: Pianotech=20
    Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 10:40 AM
    Subject: Jesse French Plastic


    Yesterday, I had to disappoint a 90 plus year old lady by telling =
her that her piano is unusable (no use to tune it) at this time because =
of plastic parts failure in her Jesse French piano.  It's probably a =
large console with a case designed like a studio with the entire top =
lifting up much like many Baldwin Hamiltons.  It appears to be from the =
early 50's, though Pierce doesn't give any dates for it.  Over 30 back =
checks are completely gone with a half dozen or so having been replaced =
with wood at some time in the past.  At present there are another six or =
eight damper levers (plastic, too) that are broken.

    The question:

    Are parts available to fit this action to repair it?  I told her =
that it would probably take a commitment of several hundred dollars to =
replace all of the plastic, even if suitable wooden replacements are =
available.  She and I both feel that given the age of both the piano and =
the client, that repairs are probably not economically feasible.  I feel =
that repairing only those that are broken at this time will not produce =
long lasting satisfaction, as other parts will no doubt continue to =
break in the future.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

    Thanks to all.

    Ray

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Ray T. Bentley, RPT
    Registered Piano Tuner-Technician
    Alton, IL
    ray@bentley.net
    www.ray.bentley.net


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