Hi Marshall,
The folks at the Piano Hospital, the school for teaching piano tuning to the
blind, would probably know. They specialize in tools and methods to make
the work more accessible.
Diane
Diane Hofstetter
----Original Message Follows----
From: pianotune05 at comcast.net
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org, pianotech at ptg.org
CC: pianotech-request at ptg.org
Subject: I'm seeking a piano tning tool for the blind
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 21:56:08 +0000
Hi Everyone,
I'm still here reading the posts as I get time. I continue to be active in
learning this craft tuning and enjoying every minute of it. I have a quick
question.
I met someone who attends my church who's uncle , a blind piano tuner,
invented and patened a tool for the blind which was designed to make tuning
easier. He's no longer alive, but his name was William Faulkner from
Chicago, not the author from Missippi. Does anyone know about this tool and
where I can find it/purchase it? Thanks
Marshall
-------------- Original message --------------
From: pianotech-request at ptg.org
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----Original Message Follows----
From: pianotech-request at ptg.org
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Pianotech Digest, Vol 1284, Issue 26
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 19:02:48 +0000
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Inharmonicity (Don)
2. Action modification results. (Jon Page)
3. Re: Grand damper jigs (Farrell)
4. Re: buzzing on piano (Mike Kurta)
5. In floor radiant heating (jimialeggio5 at comcast.net)
6. Re: teacher evaluations (Ron Nossaman)
7. Re: Good Old Upright Fix- try this one. (Ron Nossaman)
8. Inharmonicity (Israel Stein)
9. Re: A Good Old Upright Fix..AND SPINET FIX! (KeyKat88 at aol.com)
10. Re: A Good Old Upright Fix..AND SPINET FIX! (Don)
11. Re: buzzing on piano (David Andersen)
12. Re: In floor radiant heating (David Andersen)
13. Inharmonicity (RicB)
14. Inharmonicity (RicB)
15. Re: Inharmonicity (Patrick Poulson)
16. pianists at utube (Don)
----Original Message Follows----
From: Don <pianotuna at accesscomm.ca>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: Inharmonicity
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 09:55:33
Hi Phillip,
The difference is that as a violin is being bowed (in theory) energy is
being added which allows the inharmonicity to be near zero. Plucking the
string and allowing it to decay allows for *lots* of inharmonicity.
At 04:15 PM 2/4/2007 +0100, you wrote:
>Robert,
>
>I wonder why a violin would, less than a piano, have inharmonicity...
>It has exactly the same mechanical reasons as a piano to have it, hasn't
it
>?
>
>I would understand that it has less inharmonicity because, violin's string
>are less stiff than piano strings, but it still should have some...
>
>Philippe
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat
mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/
3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner
----Original Message Follows----
From: Jon Page <jonpage at comcast.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Action modification results.
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 10:57:48 -0500
In the past few months, I've had 2 Young Changs and 1 Samick come
through the shop. Great improvements have been made on all in
regards to action geometry but I didn't document until this last YC.
a. original survey
b. Reshape hammers/taper/re-arc tails
c. move knuckles out 1mm on shank to 18.5mm
d. move stack back 3mm
e. alter FW to target 38 BW
Survey of C4
UW DW BW F SW FW SBR
a 32 60 46 14 10.9 32 6.4
b 26 52 39 13 9.9 32 6.3
c 24 44 34 10 9.9 32 5.8
d 22 38 30 8 9.9 32 5.4
e 30 46 38 8 9.9 24 5.4
Description:
a. The piano was difficult to play, one reason the owner sold it,
he wanted a lighter action and decided to go for a digital.
BTW this also is a PianoDisc.
b. Hammers were in the high top range. Reshape, square the tail
to the shank, taper width 10.5mm at top 7.5mm at tail. Remove
staple (.2g) from notes 64 and up to reduce shoulders.
Ending at 3/4 medium range. (at #64, SW increase jump)
c. Knuckle core aligned forwards of jack center pin. Action spread 113.5,
no room to shorten spread because the jack was already forward of
center on the let off button and capstan was on the rear of the
cushion.
Height of wippen rail OK. Jacks were burying into the rep stop felt
even
with 9.5mm dip and 48mm blow. I expected a greater difference.
[In retrospect, I might have eliminated this procedure but I didn't
like
the angle between the jack and shank at rest. The knuckles were
relatively
loose in the slot so no damage was done in removal and I reused them.
A veneer shim was glued in alongside the core upon reinstallation.
Then the
final survey (e) might have appeared something like this:
30,46,38,11,9.9,29,5.9]
d. The capstans were on the rear portion of the cushion felt and behind
the Magic Line. The bass and tenor hammers were at odd angles on the
rail
to fit the strings. Relocated stack back 3mm to align capstan on
cushion center
and Magic Line. This also improved the strike point in the treble
although I had
to move the keyframe forwards .75mm (predetermined before stack
location).
The bass and tenor hammers spaced to the strings with the shanks at
more comfortable angles to the rail and wippens.
e. Plays like a dream with minimal after touch. The FW is still high but
without
assist spring wippens there's not much else to do. 10mm dip, 45mm
blow.
Fortunately the hammers allowed for needle voicing which brought it
right down.
I think that even the PianoDisc operates better.
Due to reducing the action ratio, the letoff buttons had to be turned up to
nearly
maximum. This probably will cause some difficulty in their adjustment once
the
hammers become worn. For the next job, I'll either remove the buttons and
remove ~3 to 4mm from the bottom or install wippens which have a wider angle
between the fly and tender; perhaps one with a screw adjust spring similar
to the
Tokiwa M&H wippen, if not that wip with appropriate flange (preferred
option).
I need to pull out the parts kit for comparisons.
The Samick came out best of all because I was able to apply a Stanwood
TouchDesign
since it had the spring assist wippen already (no screw adjust :-( This
needed to have
the stack moved back, knuckles moved out on the the shanks, wippen rail
raised
1.5mm and spread increased to 114mm, hammer weight reduction with
shaping/tapering/arcing.
NEXT !
Regards,
Jon Page
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: Grand damper jigs
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 11:11:56 -0500
Jig, or piano itself. Eyeballing doesn't cut it here.
Terry Farrell
----- Original Message -----
When I re-felt a set of grand damper heads, I always use jigs when gluing
on monochord, bichord, and 2 trichord pieces. The jig aligns the front and
back pieces so that they're perfectly in line with each other- -this makes
regulation much easier. It's hard enough to do an A-1 damper job normally,
but to try to do it when the front and rear dampers don't line up on some
damper heads is near impossible. Is the use of jigs common among
technicians, or am I the odd ball out there?
Jesse Gitnik - NYC
Since 1980
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Mike Kurta" <mkurta at adelphia.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: buzzing on piano
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 11:11:56 -0500
You can fashion a diagnostic tool by making a wooden tapered wedge and
tapping it lightly in place between the soundboard and beams in various
places. I've found this helps to narrow the area to the source of the buzz,
and may even eliminate it if all else fails.
Mike Kurta
----Original Message Follows----
From: jimialeggio5 at comcast.net
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: In floor radiant heating
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 16:04:30 +0000
Cy
There are different radiant heat systems, but the
key is they heat by the same wave form mechanism.
The sun is a radiant heat source. You stand in the sun
and feel warmer irrespective of the ambiant temperature.
In all these radiant systems, whether it is radiant panels on
the walls or cielings or floors, the heat mechanism is wave forms
heating the objects first which then heat the air by conduction. The heat
does not progress from the floor and then rise to ceiling except secondarily
as the warm objects themselves heat the air by conduction. Thus convection
in
radiantly heated homes is seriously reduced, which leads to the comfort
factor
associated with radiant systems.
Forced hot air, baseboard heat, etc heat the air which then heats the
objects by conduction. ie much convection, much air movement.
Since the radiant systems heat objects (including people's personal
objectified bodies) the temp of the building is often comfortable at a
lower themostat setting....assuming not too leaky a building.
If the radiant heat is installed in a leaky building, the radiant surfaces
will need to be warmer than in a less leaky building. In addition,with
greater amount of dry (absolute Humidity) air coursing through the
building because of the leaky nature of the building, the RH will drop...
this is where the moisture EMC problem with pianos, furniture and people's
sinus's occurs...not necessarily the heat source.
Jim I
----Original Message Follows----
From: Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net, Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: teacher evaluations
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 10:21:52 -0600
>There is a guy who runs around this area of the country "rebuilding"
>pianos.
>A one time client of mine paid $3500 for a Chickering 7' which was neither
>playable nor tuneable when I was asked to tune the thing. Fortunately I
>managed to convince them to talk to a good local rebuilder, and they
>coughed
>up the additional bucks to have it completely redone. After all was said
>and done they had a concert level instrument for vastly less than concert
>cost. But it was a bitter pill for them. The guy who has ripped off a lot
>of people is named Lovett, and evidently his reputation spreads over more
>than just the state of Texas. We've all likely had to pronounce "dead" a
>number of things people thought were still pianos.........
>les bartlett
Back in the early 80s he used to come through Wichita a couple of times a
year and buy up any junk pianos the local technicians had managed to get
stuck with, or finally decided they'd never get around to, and haul them
back to Texas. We got a kick out of watching him load those big old uprights
by himself, and wondered how he could possibly do even 10% of the work these
pianos needed and be able to sell them for what he had in them. We decided
he must be doing only 5% and refinishing them. Looks like we might have been
right. I don't know how far north he ranged, but there must be thousands of
expired pianos in Texas that he single handedly rounded up and hauled back.
He did a cheap refinish job or two for one of the local techs as well.
Was the Chickering refinished? Was the job decent, or at least acceptable?
Ron N
----Original Message Follows----
From: Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: Good Old Upright Fix- try this one.
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 10:30:22 -0600
>You made me giggle Ron, but I'd be ROFL if it weren't so darn close to the
>truth!
Sad but true.
Ron N
----Original Message Follows----
From: Israel Stein <custos3 at comcast.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Inharmonicity
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 08:28:05 -0800
At 07:49 AM 2/4/2007, Robert Scott wrote:
>>RicB said: "Inharmonicity is a distinctive characteristic of pianos."
>>Ric,
>>I competely disagree. All instruments have inharmonicity; just less than
>>the piano.
>>Joe
>Well, not exactly. A pipe organ does not have any inharmonicity. Neither
>does a violin (when it is being bowed). These instruments produce true
>harmonics that are exactly multiples of their fundamentals. And some
>instruments have more inharmonicity than a piano - like for instance
>chimes.
>
>Robert Scott
>Ypsilanti, Michigan
Sorry, Robert.
You are correct about the organ, but incorrect about the violin.
Inharmonicity is a property of vibrating strings, caused by stiffness of the
material of which the strings are made. Stiffness causes a distortion of the
string's vibration at the termination points - there is a part of the string
that is more or less straight, before the "waves" can start. The result is
that those sections of the vibrating string (1/2, 1/3, 1/4) etc. that give
rise to the overtones (or partials above the first) are shortened to a
greater proportion of their length by that distortion as one goes up the
overtone series. If the distorted section of string is, say, 2 mm - that is
a greater proportion of 1/4 of the string than of the whole string. This is
what gives rise to inharmonicity - a shorter section produces a higher
frequency, and so the higher you go up the overtone series, the sharper is
the partial relative to the previous ones.
The stiffer the string, the greater the distortion - and therefore, the
inharmonicity.
Stiffness is affected by three factors: density of the string material,
thickness of the string and tension of the string. To have a string with
zero inharmonicity, you must have a string with zero stiffness which is
impossible, since that would require a string made of something with zero
density, of zero thickness under no tension...
Since the modern piano uses very thick steel strings (some with copper
windings) under a great deal of tension, its inharmonicity is through the
roof and requires special treatment in tuning. In violins, on the other
hand, the inharmonicity is negligible - thin strings under low tension...
Israel Stein
----Original Message Follows----
From: KeyKat88 at aol.com
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: A Good Old Upright Fix..AND SPINET FIX!
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 11:51:36 EST
Greetings.
It looks as if many pianos were burned in that spot!....ANY
SPINETS?
Julia
Reading PA
----Original Message Follows----
From: Don <pianotuna at accesscomm.ca>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: A Good Old Upright Fix..AND SPINET FIX!
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 11:02:52
Hi Julia,
I was under the impression that spinets always burned--the customer that is.
At 11:51 AM 2/4/2007 EST, you wrote:
> Greetings. It looks as if many pianos were burned in that
>spot!....ANY SPINETS? Julia
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat
mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/
3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner
----Original Message Follows----
From: David Andersen <david at davidandersenpianos.com>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: buzzing on piano
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:49:43 -0800
Ooohhh, great tip, Mike. Into the "crucial" file this goes. Thanks.
xoxDA
On Feb 4, 2007, at 8:11 AM, Mike Kurta wrote:
> You can fashion a diagnostic tool by making a wooden tapered wedge and
>tapping it lightly in place between the soundboard and beams in various
>places. I've found this helps to narrow the area to the source of the
>buzz, and may even eliminate it if all else fails.
> Mike Kurta
----Original Message Follows----
From: David Andersen <david at davidandersenpianos.com>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: In floor radiant heating
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 09:56:41 -0800
Clear. Simple. Bam. Thank you, o mystery guest. WHO ARE YOU, JIM I? Some
educated Rastafarian shaman from another dimension? Please tell us about
yourself and your piano story/passion/business.
Best, and welcome----
David Andersen
Malibu, California
>If the radiant heat is installed in a leaky building, the radiant surfaces
>will need to be warmer than in a less leaky building. In addition,with
>greater amount of dry (absolute Humidity) air coursing through the
>building because of the leaky nature of the building, the RH will drop...
>this is where the moisture EMC problem with pianos, furniture and people's
>sinus's occurs...not necessarily the heat source.
>Jim I
----Original Message Follows----
From: RicB <ricb at pianostemmer.no>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Inharmonicity
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:58:22 +0100
Hi Joe
You are of course completely free to disagree. But it might be nice if you
made sure at least who you were disagreeing with. The quote you disagree
with below is taken from a quote I took off the Netherlands based Bonemens
website and represents their views, written as they understand english
language usage, to express what they meant. (which probably did not go
along the lines of <<distinctive>> in any <<exclusive>> sense of the word.
I believe, if you re-read my post.... the quotation is clearly marked and
author appropriately denoted.
Cheers
RicB
RicB said: "Inharmonicity is a distinctive characteristic of pianos."
Ric,
I competely disagree. All instruments have inharmonicity; just less
than the piano.
Joe
Joe Garrett, R.P.T.
Captain of the Tool Police
Squares R I
----Original Message Follows----
From: RicB <ricb at pianostemmer.no>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Inharmonicity
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:03:45 +0100
Sheesh .... dont you guys know what a quotation is and means ?
take a gander at the post where I supposedly said as Joe claims:
RicB said: "Inharmonicity is a distinctive characteristic of pianos."
http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/2007-February/201378.html
Now tell me again who said what.... :)
Cheers
RicB
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Patrick Poulson" <pcpoulson at sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: Inharmonicity
Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 10:15:01 -0800
This statement says that inharmonicity is a distinctive characteristic of
pianos, not and exclusive one. Big difference is meaning there!
Patrick C. Poulson
Registered Piano Technician
Piano Technicians Guild
> RicB said: "Inharmonicity is a distinctive characteristic of pianos."
----Original Message Follows----
From: Don <pianotuna at accesscomm.ca>
Reply-To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: pianists at utube
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 12:56:55
Hi Folks,
This is the first time ever I've wished I had more than a dialup connection
to the net!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=49gXA9hALPs
Enjoy!
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat
mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/
3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner
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