CP 60-70-80's

[Robin Blankenship]

Hey crew,

I'm starting a project soon with an unrepentant rock and roller who swears 
that nothing better than the CP-70 was ever invented for his kind of music. 
I had to deal with his Kawai EP 308M recently and was really put off by the 
little rubber cup-like items that the key bottoms squashed into on the way 
to activating the MIDI contacts. Oh, well.....

I'm asking if anybody on the list has ever experimented with replacing the 
hard plastic insert that forms the tip of the hammer with any other material 
that might allow something like ordinary voicing capabilities. I had to pull 
one hammer and shank off a CP-70 in order to repin the flange and, like its 
Kawai counterpart, it had a plastic piece forming the "pointy end" of the 
hammer, with buckskin over top of it.

It's really "creepy" to have a supposed piano hammer that is not really a 
piano hammer.......

Robin Blankenship


 ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman at cox.net>
To: <joegarrett at earthlink.net>; "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:37 PM
Subject: Re: CP 60-70-80's


>
>> Ron,
>> I would disagree on the point of "untuneable". They can be tuned, but 
>> they won't fall into our little tuning "box" that we are comfortable 
>> with. The scales are actually well thought out and most of the harmonics 
>> do a good job of coinciding.
>
> The bass, for instance, is truly and inescapably wretched. The rest of it 
> is much like any spinet, for which the assessment of "tunability" is a 
> matter of generosity. The two string unisons are, however, a definite 
> plus. The damage can be done in minimum time, making the 
> income/aggravation ratio positive.
>
>
>>The big issue is that they are better tuned with an ETD than by ear IMO 
>>(darn puter keeps doing weird things at this point  caps goes haywire 
>>perhaps the puter doesn"t like what i"m writing   go figger)
>
> I've tuned most of the ones I've done, including the one last week, 
> aurally, without amplification. Can't help with what your computer thinks 
> about your writing though. Sorry, I have my own battles with mine and the 
> spell checker.
>
>
>> As for voicing, there some small voicing capabilities, but that was 
>> intended to be compensated for with the amplifier EQ.
>
> Or ignored altogether, as is usual. It *is* rock & roll, after all.
>
>
>> As for how they sound. Years ago, Del and I experimented with a Baldwin 
>> "electric" dissaster thingee. I dragged my big Bass amp in, (high quality 
>> thingee), and we hooked it up. That POS actually sounded good through a 
>> good amp! Another go figger.<G> I think the same applies to the CP 
>> thingees. A high quality amp will make them sound better than they have a 
>> right to, IMO.
>> Just my experience with these.
>
> And the above is mine.
>
> Sleep tight, Joe.
> Ron N
>