> From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com> > Date: February 19, 2011 10:06:38 AM EST > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Bummer Long Bridge > > Same piano as bummer bass bridge topic. > > Tenor end of treble/long bridge - cracks go well up into plain wire > section...... > > In the picture below, not only is the bridge cracked at the pins, > but you can see that the pin has migrated at least the diameter of > the wire. And if you look closely, you can see the dark imprint in > the bridge top of the original position of the wire on the left side > of the wire - the pin and wire have moved a bit. > > > > > > The cracks diminish as you move up the long bridge, but are still > present on the tenor bridge at least half was across where it > underlies the bass strings. > > My only question here is whether the manufacturer is going to try to > "fix" the piano for the owner, or replace. > > I thought this was interesting and thought it might be nice to share > to show that these kinds of things can happen to new pianos and not > just 100 year old pianos. Previously, I had been a bit wishy-washy > when recommending to prospective new piano owners whether they > should hire a piano tech to inspect a new piano before they buy it. > I've always said that it was a good idea, but that I understood why > many piano shoppers would elect to not do so and that they were > probably reasonably safe. No more. I'll recommend inspections for > new and used from now on! > > Yes, even if they buy a piano with a good warranty I suppose they > are covered, but when they have to go for many months with a piano > that won't stay in tune and then without a piano for a while, at > some point you gotta ask why they even bought a piano! A thorough > inspection by a good tech should avoid such a situation. > > Oh, and how did I first notice this? This was a long time client of > mine who retired about a year ago and was looking forward to > spending more time playing her 1948 Betsy Ross spinet. After > noticing all her Beethoven and Chopin, etc. on her music desk, I > asked her at what level did she play - and she responded advanced > amateur. I asked whether she had trouble controlling the action and > playing softly - she said yes. I told her she could spend many 100's > of $$ regulating, etc. her ole' Betsy, or replace/upgrade. A few > months later she called to tell me that she bought a new full sized > upright and that it needed to be tuned. She said a tuner from the > dealer tuned it two months prior to me coming out there and that she > was surprised that it went out of tune so quickly. I told her that > some new pianos don't see a lot of tuning at the factory and that it > might take several frequent tunings before it became stable. So I > start to listen to the piano. I immediately notice that most of the > bass section is way flat (this was back in November - I think it was > at least a full half-step flat - maybe more). So I think - wohaaa! > somethin's fishy here. Cracked plate? Pinblock separation? Pull off > bottom board - OOPS! - KNEE BOARD!!!!!!!! Okay, okay. Remove knee > board and very quickly see the problem. > > Hope you enjoyed the show! > > Terry Farrell -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110219/f179cc98/attachment-0001.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: P2180009.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 464458 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110219/f179cc98/attachment-0001.jpg>
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