[pianotech] To unplug or not to unplug

[Andrew Anderson]

It really depends on how far the hall climate is from the climate  
maintained in the piano.  I was tuning a S&S D that got unplugged  
while I was working on it.  Everything was moving within a couple  
minutes, and not just a little!  When I showed the manager how much,  
he made a hard rule: the piano is never unplugged.  They have a stage  
hand specifically to manage the cord when it is moved between numbers  
in a concert.
When the tuning moves that much, the unisons do not come back  
perfectly when it is plugged in again.

This is the problem with using a DC system, either you use it or you  
don't.  I maintain a piano in a bad environment where they were  
inconsistent.  We ended up permanently unplugging it because the  
cycling was horrific.  We had conferences with the people who used the  
hall and they just did not take it seriously enough to protect the  
piano.

Andrew Anderson


On Jan 24, 2011, at 7:19 AM, Conrad Hoffsommer wrote:

> I cut the power cord short and attached it to a back post. Arranged  
> a loop to act as a strain relief/release for when the piano got  
> moved beyond extension length. (after one poor humidistat got turned  
> inside out)  Got a number of extension cords to use as replacements  
> for bare wires caused by repeated runovers.  One piano prof made a  
> little bag which could hold the extension cord and hung it by a cord  
> from a lid hinge. (up out of audience line-o-sight)
>
> I laminated a sign with a message to plug the piano in and attached  
> it to the cover.
>
> It worked if;
> a. the people can and do read (professors seemed to have a problem  
> with this one)
> b. they put the cover back on. (provided they didn't put the cover  
> on inside-out.)
>
> YMMV
> Conrad Hoffsommer
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:56:55 -0600
> > From: mike.spalding1 at frontier.com
> > To: pianotech at ptg.org
> > Subject: Re: [pianotech] To unplug or not to unplug
> >
> > Barb,
> >
> > No problem for the 2 or 3 hours of rehearsal. It's the "plug it back
> > in" part that will be critical. If they can remember to do that  
> they'll
> > be fine.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> > PS Help them avoid ripping the cord off the DC. Coil the cord and
> > clip it to the beams/rim such that only a couple feet hang down, not
> > enough to reach the floor and get caught under the stage truck  
> wheels.
> > Maybe the extension cord hanging out of the wall outlet will  
> remind them
> > to plug it back in??
> >
> > On 1/23/2011 10:28 PM, Barbara Richmond wrote:
> > > Hi List,
> > >
> > > I will be installing a full DC system with undercover on a  
> Yamaha C-6
> > > that lives in a large parish hall. The piano is stored on near the
> > > wall on one side of the room. Every week it is rolled out mid-room
> > > for a chorus rehearsal. It seems like it would be OK to unplug the
> > > system, move the piano and use it for rehearsal, and then roll  
> it back
> > > and plug it back in. Or, I thought about using some sort of
> > > retractable extension cord, but am concerned about how well that  
> would
> > > really work--then there is the concern about the chorus members
> > > tripping over the cord.
> > >
> > > Thoughts?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Barbara Richmond, RPT
> > > near Peoria, Illinois
> >

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