> Also I am worried that once this piano starts actually being played, > the rest of the hammers are going to start dropping like flies. That's probably the key here. I call it (I'm sure I heard it from some other piano tech) the rule of six. If one thing is broke, fix it. If several of them are broke, consider what's going on, but just fixing the broken ones may well be a good route to go. If six or more are broke, clearly they're all going to break soon, so replace them all. Hey, if the informed piano owner is game, I say go for it! Terry Farrell On Jan 6, 2011, at 7:18 PM, Kurt Baxter wrote: > > A spinet? Well, not just ANY spinet - how 'bout a 1948 Wurly spinet > from Mars (or, obviously from somewhere else in the solar system)? > > That is one gorgeous piece of art deco furniture right there. I > think a handful of the more interesting of these old spinets will > end up as "playable antiques", and the next generation will develop > a qualified appreciation for them, much as this generation has for > squares, birdcages, etc. > > Personally I think these little low-tension pianos sound great > playing Bach, Mozart, folk, even ragtime... anything with a plucky > character, limited range (octave and dynamic) and modest technical > demands. Beethoven and Chopin? Not so much... > > > I know there are jacks down there somewhere, because I can hear them > laughing at me. > > Due to word inflation, "lol" is not enough. I *actually* laughed out > loud. > > > I'm sure you can't. Is the felt as "tight" on any 50 year old piano > as they originally were? I've CA glued many hammer felts and they > sound just as bad as the intact hammers next to them and all the > rest of the sorry little piano. > > Yeah, I have tried gluing hammers like this back in place and they > sound surprisingly similar to the neighboring notes. That is, not > very good, but not that different. The bass section with like 6 > missing hammer felts is more worrisome to me, as I would have find/ > salvage a whole bunch of "matching" hammers, and I'm pretty sure > that WILL sound noticeably different. Also I am worried that once > this piano starts actually being played, the rest of the hammers are > going to start dropping like flies. > > Being that the informed owner wishes to do so, indeed! I'll admit, > I'd like to hear it after a good new hammer installation..... > > Hopefully I can post an update when I'm all done! > Thanks for everyone's input, it has been very illuminating. > > > -kurt -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110106/0750abf5/attachment.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC