lyre problem

[Michael Magness]

On 9/12/07, Clark Sprague <CSPRAGUE4 at woh.rr.com> wrote:
>
> John,  You mean the solenoid rail cover, right?  The way I always do this
> is
> to use the original lyre brace rods, and add two blocks of old pinblock
> material (glued and screwed and painted black) to the bottom of the keybed
> on the tail side of the solenoid rail cover.  Just make the blocks long
> enough and positioned properly to give you the needed clearance to make it
> not touch the rail cover.  Drill appropriately angled hole to take the
> rods,
> position, mark, screw and glue, and there it is.  You'll be surprised that
> the blocks don't have to be that big to give you the clearance you need to
> put those braces on there.
>    And, it is no surprise to most of you out there, that some installers
> will take the track, "the people that buy these things never play the
> piano
> physically, anyway, so who cares?"  A pretty sorry excuse for taking these
> kinds of shortcuts, IMHO.  Clark A. Sprague, RPT
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Formsma" <formsma at gmail.com>
> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 3:26 PM
> Subject: lyre problem
>
>
> > List,
> >
> > Gulbransen fetal grand with (of all things) a PianoDisc.
> >
> > Problem is that lyre braces were removed to install PianoDisc, leaving
> > no place for OEM or supply house braces.  (The control unit under the
> > piano is attached to where the braces normally would be.)  There are
> > two screws that hold the lyre in place.  Without the braces, they
> > have, of course, stripped out the wood.
>
>
I have one other option I've used in the past, on wrecked lyres that had no
braces to begin with or they were long lost, no Piano Disc involved, usually
movers using the wrong bolts! The piano disc installations I've seen
wouldn't be interfered with by this repair since the lyre mount is usually
forward of the installation.

I use the existing holes and bore them thru the key bed, if they aren't
already, I then use carriage bolts of the appropriate diameter and length to
fit through the keybed and lyre and be held in place by a good sized washer,
lockwasher and nut.  The bolts fit down through the keybed becoming a pair
of studs to mount the lyre on, they can be held in place with t-nuts or jam
nuts from underneath, a small area would have to be drilled out for the jam
nut to fit into so the lyre could fir flush to the keybed. The Key bed
material in most older grands is usually soft enough for the head of the
bolt to draw down flush and cause no problems with the action movement.
Occasionaly a washer is needed under the head of the bolt to keep it from
pulling through, in that case a little chipping out with a chisel to
accomodate the washer and bolthead may be necessary. It's faster and simpler
than making new braces and material to hold them or having new braces
welded. It's all available from the hardware store.
By the way Ron you hit the nail on the head, when I called one of the
companie which should remain nameless(Suzuki)and asked to talk to their
tech, they didn't have one! I talked to the guy who installs the Piano Disc
systems who told me he isn't a piano tech he's an electronics tech, hired by
Piano Disc!
-- 
Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life
as a continuous learning experience.
- Denis Waitley


Michael Magness
Magness Piano Service
608-786-4404
www.IFixPianos.com
email mike at ifixpianos.com
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