On 2/20/2011 8:29 AM, Terry Farrell wrote: > No capping material at all. Solid maple (I think) bridge - top to bottom > and everywhere in between. Yes, of course. I wasn't thinking. The coffee's working now, so I'm not thinking at a much faster rate. > If they are going to offer to replace the piano, I wonder whether she > would be better off with another piano made of the same materials, or if > she would be better off with this piano after repair and installation of > a good laminated hard maple cap. I suspect the latter - especially > looking far down the road of time. John Formosa's comment that he has > seen the same thing on a new piano of the same model as this is > especially concerning. A replacement made the same way with similar materials may or may not repeat the problem. The piano is what it is, and is likely priced accordingly. Still, at whatever price, this is basic structure and shouldn't happen until just after the warranty expires. <G> That's not a dig at Kawai, incidentally, just one of the universal rules of life. > If I were to repair it, my main question would be with regard to the > treble bridge. The bass bridge is a no-brainer - repair/replace the root > and put a good laminated cap on it. But the long bridge is less clear. > The cracks are big in the very low tenor and diminish to not visible > about where the long bridge is half way across the bass string section. > So one could argue that only the tenor section of the long bridge would > need a new good cap (not that there was one originally). That would be > something reasonable to expect from the dealer/manufacturer standpoint. I expect they'd sooner replace the piano than pay the cost of repairs. Also, what does the repair do to the warranty? > But from her standpoint, it would seem to me that a recommendation to > cap the entire long bridge with a good laminated cap would be prudent - > the thought being that as long as you are in there tearing the piano > apart, might as well do what will be most productive to make and keep > the treble clean and clear for many years to come. > > Any thoughts on that? Capping with something approaching suitable material would be safest and best in the long run, but I can't see anyone associated with the manufacture or sale of the piano buying it. > Another question. I've repaired bass bridges and have always just > loosened the tuning pin just enough to yank the string loop off the > hitch pin and move the string out of the way. I have not ever repaired a > long bridge where I wasn't restringing anyway. Regardless of whether > half the long bridge is to be recapped (awkward term to use when the > original did not have a cap) or the entire bridge is to be recapped - > what works best - pop strings off loop and reuse or remove all strings > and restring after bridge work is completed. Seems to me if you left > strings on the tuning pins you'd really have yourself a big pile of > spaghetti and end up putting kinks in wires, etc. - maybe better off to > just restring. And if I did restring, remove tuning pins, or just loosen > on turn and put the new strings on with a pre-made coil? Seems to me a > lot easier to remove pins and install new ones, but then again that > would unnecessarily enlarge the tuning pin hole in the pinblock - you'd > probably want to got up one pin size - pretty cruddy thing to do on a > new piano. Realistically, the customer would be better off just replacing the piano - with something better. Alternately, a new bass bridge with a decent cap, whether it's laminated or not, epoxying the pins in the low tenor, and CAing the rest is probably not a bad compromise, and there's a chance they'll buy it. I've made lots of bass bridges out of multilam pinblock material with pins driven in with epoxy, which works great. But then, what does that do to the warranty? > How can something so simple generate so many questions? Entropy always eventually wins, and answers are always buried deep in some impenetrable swamp. The more snake and gator bites you accumulate looking for answers, the more knowledge you'll take with you when you die. Good morning! Ron N
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