[pianotech] re; spinet repetition problems

[Dean May]

Interesting, Joe. 

FWIW, I have never installed Jiffy Leads on a piano, spinet or otherwise.
I've taken some off after correcting the friction problem that prompted
their installation by previous techs. My approach has always been to find
and fix the friction problems- tight centers or bad knuckles, and everything
seems to work well then.

Like I said, I was only reacting to the whole "fix it right" thing equating
to factory perfect, and that was mostly because of not enough coffee yet.
:-)

Dean

Dean W May (812) 235-5272 voice and text

PianoRebuilders.com (888) DEAN-MAY

Terre Haute IN 47802


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Joseph Garrett
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 1:03 PM
To: pianotech
Subject: [pianotech] re; spinet repetition problems

Dean said: "If Jiffy Leads are fully functional, do not take away the
aesthetic look of
the outside cabinet the customer sees, last just as long, AND SAVES THE
CUSTOMER MONEY, why would they not be considered "doing the job right?"
 
 
I'm sorry to sound snippy, but I grow weary of the mindset that it has to be
like the factory in order to qualify as doing it right. In my book, if it
works well and saves the customer money, that is doing it right, and that is
how I want other people to treat me. "
 
Dean,
I'd like to agree with you but the essence of "jiffy leads" is that you
just screw them puppies on the ends of the keys and voila'! you have really
faster, better piano.....NOT! First the jiffies are too heavy!! Secondly,
each key's balance weight is different. This is due to various widths, wood
densities, sharps vs naturals, etc.The method I use is a balance system and
a gram scale. I've found that a back weight of 1-3 grams will make the key
settle on it's back rail and not increase the "touch" a noticeable amount.
The end results is: you take the key out of the action rep. picture, so to
speak and leave the repetition to the ACTION itself.<G> If the action is
still "sluggish", then your next step is to repin. I think there was little
quality control of the S-2 parts that most spinets have. All parts pinning
should be suspect imo. 
Although, I too, like to be given the least expensive route to repairing a
piece of my equipment, I've found that it is not always the long term best
route.<G> Mostly I've found: "Cheap is just Cheap, it's not always the
best"! One other thing: A large percentage of the existing spinets were
made out of REAL wood and nice aesthetic designed cases. They are far
superior to the POS's coming out of China, Indonesia, etc!! (BTW I HATE
shiny black!!! buullaaaccckkk!<G>) So, what is the alternative to the NEW
pianos? Fix the Spinets to work the way they were originally designed to,
not how they came off the assembly line! It will be cheaper for the client
in the long run and the client will not regret that route, imho. There are
some spinets that should have NEVER been manufactured. Those should go into
the nearest land fill, imo....er Winter comes to mind<G>.
Joe


Joe Garrett, R.P.T.
Captain of the Tool Police
Squares R I