I've tuned a harpsichord with a metal bridge and soundboard. Amazingly close to tune six months later too... I wonder why ;-) I actually liked the sound. Some odd plectra material though... Andrew Anderson On Dec 1, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Scott Gray wrote: > > Has anyone ever tried to design a bridge made our of metal? I know > it would sound different but at least it wouldn't crack. > > Scotty > > Barbara Richmond wrote: >> >> Greetings list, >> >> When I serviced a church's Yamaha C-6 (beyond warranty) for the >> first time a few years ago, the lower treble section was wildly out >> of tune. I tuned like crazy and was satisfied with how I left the >> piano. About six or seven weeks later, I happened to get called to >> tune the same piano for a music competition. I thought, "Ha, this >> is going to be a piece of cake." Ahem. Though the same section >> wasn't as badly out of tune this time, I was disappointed with what >> I found. Yes, there had been a change in season (late fall to no- >> doubt-about-it winter), but still, the out-of-tuneness wasn't the >> usual seasonal pattern. I had a look at the bridge; there were >> cracks--not huge (yet). The church wasn't a regular account of >> mine, but I mentioned to the person in charge that there was a >> problem that could get worse. She was interested in my opinion and >> asked me to make an estimate. I recommended CAing the bridge and >> installing a DC system. It's sort of a long story (I won't go into >> it), but >> eventually the person in charge started calling me to do the work >> there and I was asked to do something about the bridge. >> Unfortunately, they opted out of the DC system. >> >> So, I arrived to CA the bridge. Even with the right applicator, >> CAing can be tricky. I was very careful, but still, it's tight >> quarters working around strings & bridge pins, and it's a challenge >> to keep CA glue from contacting the strings. When a couple or more >> drops didn't go where they were intended, I decided if I was going >> to sin, I'd sin boldly (thank you Martin Luther). I thought about >> some key buttons that went through big seasonal changes that I had >> treated with CA when I rebushed them. What an improvement it made >> in reducing the swelling and shrinking (thank you, Dan Tassin.) I >> also thought about Ed Foote telling about treating the wood part of >> old Teflon parts with epoxy and what a difference it made in >> reducing the clicks caused by seasonal changes. So, I decided to be >> bold and apply the CA ever so slightly below the top surface of the >> bridge and have it wick in and up to the bridge pin holes. Then I >> applied enough CA so the remainder of the notching was all t >> he same color. I was looking forward to the next time I tuned the >> piano to see if my efforts would improve the tuning stability in >> the section, but then there was one of those political bru-ha-has >> at the church (one of the musicians didn't know I was the person >> who had been working on the pianos, found out, and was angry that >> he hadn't been consulted)--so I won't be back there on a regular >> basis. Well, these things happen, but I'm mostly disappointed that >> I can't track the results of my bet--work--experiment--whatever you >> want to call it. >> >> Fast forward to today. I got called to come to another church and >> another 7 foot piano (this time an 18 year old Kawai) that is >> developing those little cracks in the treble bridge--not as bad as >> the Yamaha, but still a concern. Here's my opportunity to give it >> another try. My aim/goal the first time was to: >> >> 1 Keep further damage from occurring. >> 2 Help keep false beats at bay. >> 3 See if the treatment helps tuning stability. >> >> Has anyone else CA'd a bridge this way and had the opportunity to >> see the results of your work? Comments? >> >> Thanks, >> >> Barbara Richmond, RPT >> near Peoria, Illinois >> >> >> >> >> >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091201/6744c7bf/attachment-0001.htm>
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