Wow, Last piano of the day was one I had tuned only three months ago, and for the last 7 years (that I've been servicing it) has been very stable - one of those easy gigs I hope all of you enjoy from time to time. It's a Kawai UST-8C in a community clubhouse that gets tuned once a year. Get to it today and it's 20-25 cents flat throughout. I can usually plan on a relatively quick service call since no schmoozing is involved, just straight piano work - but today's visit was over two frustrating hours. I should have figured it out more quickly, it all made sense after inquiring at the office on my way out. Not only the abrupt and extreme pitch drop, but dampers that lift very unevenly now, pedals that can not be properly adjusted, left key block keeping A0 immobile.... Found out that the custodian was moving it one night, and it fell over, presumably on its back. I've seen this once before at a school on a P22, where the pitch dropped significantly too but there was more case damage but no damper problems resulted. Am wondering if the pitch raise and tuning (on the UST-8C) will hold very well, or if there will be further consequences. We'll see. But the damper problem: I know a split action rail can cause the uneven lifting like this, but neglected/forgot to check this at the appointment. Didn't see any broken rod hangers, by the way (at least I looked for that.) Any other thoughts on this, and what to look for on the return repair appt.? Anyone else seen dropped pianos exhibit similar phenomena? I was wondering why the custodian was acting weird tonight. Chuck Christus, RPT
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC