Actually its just the pick-ups that are made by Helpinstill. The piano is a MelodiPro by Aeolian. Its essentially a 64-note spinet, with single bass strings and 2-string unisons in the treble, in a road case, with pickups. I dont think theyre older than the mid-to-late 70s. Thats when I saw rock bands using them, and worked on quite a few in the 80s. The main problems with them are: a) They were made by Aeolian, and were essentially POSs. [that s pieces of s...., as opposed to PSOs, which are piano-shaped objects.] b) Theyre real string-breakers, partly because they were used by rockers who had a heavy (pounding) touch, but I think also because they mustve had a high-tension scale and hard hammers. c) They also have extremely high inharmonicity, making the bass almost impossible to tune (like on Yamaha CP-70s). I remember lead guitarists saying I didnt tune it right because the high notes didnt match their guitars or their (to them) infallible quartz guitar tuners. d) The pickups seem to always come loose and buzz against the strings. I forget what I used to do about that whatever I could, I suppose. I forget how they were mounted in there, but I remember it being a crappy system. e) They would react wildly with the changing seasons, going way sharp in the summer and way flat in the winter, due to the small soundboard, I guess. f) The key bushings wore out in no time, as I remember. g) If I remember right, the action brackets didnt have feet, so the action wouldnt stand up by itself you had to lean it against something or use a cradle, which was a major hassle on a crowded bandstand or rehearsal space with cables and other equipment everywhere, and bad lighting. (Not to mention having to unhook and later re-hook-up all the lifter wires. I dont think theyre worth putting much, if any money into. Better to look for a CP-70 or 80, if its an acoustic-sounding road piano that he wants. If its for home use, better to buy a real spinet or even an electronic keyboard with weighted keys (simulated piano touch, as opposed to the organ-type touch). --David Nereson, RPT -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]On Behalf Of pianowerks.inc at comcast.net Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 12:14 PM To: Pianotech List Subject: Hellpinstill (appropriately named) Hi all, Had the opportunity to (try) and service and (try) to tune a Hellpinstill yesterday. Weird little portable spinet in a professional road-case from the sixties(?). Anyone else ever worked on one of these? The owner is interested in putting some money into it but I'd like to hear if I should just run away. Thanks in advance, Brad Haskins -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070303/5126756e/attachment-0001.html
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC