[pianotech] Wegman grand

[Chuck Behm]

>The only Wegman I have seen was an upright.  It has no pinblock, per se.
There is a chunk of wood where the pinblock should be.  It is a structural
member of the back, but it is not functionally a pinblock.  The tuning pins
do not penetrate it and are not imbedded in it.  The tuning pin look like a
traditional tuning pin with the threaded part of its length cut off.  The
pins are held in place by friction with the plate itself.  The plate holes,
to engage the pins, are an inverted teardrop shape.  The tension of the
string pulls the pin into the narrower part of this teardrop hole.  When a
string breaks, the pin just pops out of the plate hole.  In the absence of
tension on the string, there is nothing to hold the pin in  place.  There is
no pinblock to be replaced.  The big problem is the stringing process.
Where a single length of string doubles around a single hitch pin, the two
tuning pins have to be turned simultaneously until there is enough tension
on both segments to produce enough friction between the pins and the
teardrop holes that the pins don't just fall out.  Maybe the grands are
different, or maybe they evolved differently over time, but this is an
example of the one Wegman in my personal experience.

Frank Emerson<

Thanks, Frank. I've worked on the uprights, and you're description is
exactly what I've seen. My daughter, in fact, has one that I refinished for
her, and it actually has a pretty stable tuning.
What I would like to know is if their grands are the same deal. Anyone know?
Chuck
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