Nordiska tuning problem

[J Patrick Draine]

On Aug 28, 2005, at 10:13 AM, Paul McCloud wrote:

>  I would really like to get to the bottom of this.  I work for one  
> of the largest Nordiska dealers in the country, and it's going to  
> kill me unless I can get a handle on what's going on.  I can't  
> afford to spend this much time on tuning one piano.  Anyone have a  
> similar experience with this?  Ideas?  Suggestions?

While this advice probably wouldn't do you much good if you're just  
Joe Average Tuner encountering this problem in the field, I would  
suggest that you urge your boss to make part of dealer prep a  
procedure employed by a friend who was having similar troubles with a  
line of Asian pianos he was carrying for a while.
He would remove the action (and lid and legs), and then flip the  
piano upside down on a work bench, spray (or paint) a mold release  
agent (e.g. McLube) in the plate flange/pinblock gap, and then flow  
epoxy in to fill the gap. After it cures, the pinblock stopped  
wiggling and the tuning stability vastly improved. Installing wedges  
in the gap could work fairly well if you first lowered tension, and  
put a lot of them in.
Of course, all this assumes the dealer gives a damn and is willing to  
spend money to deliver real value (i.e. "not junk") to his deserving  
customers.
It would also help if he informed the Nordiska honchos that they're  
pushing defective product out the door and it is time to correct  
their factory procedures ("not fitting the pinblock to the plate  
flange").
So -- tell your boss -- be persuasive -- then it's in his court --  
you can always move on if he won't budge.
Patrick