[pianotech] Blocks

[Encore Pianos]

And then, of course, there are those ridiculous Steinway uprights and their
flagpoling tuning pins.  It's what you get when you have a very tight tuning
pin coming through a 3/8" thick Kelly plate webbing without plate bushings
to give some support to the pin.  I regularly tune a 5 year old K 52 that
easily the most difficult tuning piano in my client base.  I know that I am
not the only tech who suffers this, I have been hearing this from other
techs for 35 years.  

 

Did I mention the astounding amount of false beats in the top third of this
piano?  It would do a 60 year old Lester spinet proud, as would the
astonishingly garbagey overtones in the bass monochords - I never knew a
Steinway upright bass could sound that shitty.  (It can sound quite good,
actually!!)

 

Ok, my language is a bit colorful.  But I am identifying real problems that
exist in these pianos, as are others.  They are the same problems that exist
in other pianos and should simply be seen and judged as such by the same
standards.  There is nothing that excludes Steinway from the standards of
workmanship that we would apply to any other piano.

 

Steinway would have us believe that they know something we don't.  That may
be true for some of us, but it is certainly not true for all of us.  The
problems can viewed to the same objective standards by all, and that
includes Steinway, their pretensions to being the Godhead to the contrary.
That is what makes their propaganda about rebuilders so galling.  Not only
is much of what they have us believe about pianos rebuilt by others than
Steinway not broadly applicable, they often don't meet their own standards
as they try to lord over us and bully us out of the picture.  

 

Steinway still makes some wonderful pianos, and they still make some not so
wonderful pianos.  Each can be judged at what it does well and what it does
not do well.  

 

Finally, it always remains true that you cannot bullshit many of the really
good musicians.  That is what allows our best rebuilders like Dale and a
number of others to stay busy, even as they swim upstream against the BS.
There is a reason why Steinway felt the need to print this sheet, because
there are a number of rebuilt Steinways that do a pretty good job of chewing
at Steinway's heels.  They win the buyer because they sound and play better
than many new pianos that come from the factory.  

 

Will Truitt

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dale Erwin
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 10:54 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Blocks

 

Maybe if the tech is employed by the brand, and has tasted deeply
of the Kool-Aid, the  sense of torque could be distorted by allegiance,
but I am not seeing these blocks as impressive in practice. Too much
inconsistency after a few years to lay any claim to greatness.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT



Ed
 I find the same to be true. Jumpy popping pins. Variable torque. I think
the problem stems from  drilling 
& then  stringing protocols which contributes to this. Perhaps Rons double
drilling method would help solve     this. 

Dale Erwin R.P.T.
Erwin's Piano Restoration Inc.
Mason & Hamlin/Steinway/U.S. pianos
www.Erwinspiano.com
Phone: 209-577-8397

 
  

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Foote <a440a at aol.com>
To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Mon, Oct 22, 2012 9:40 am
Subject: [pianotech] Blocks

Ok,I renamed it,
 
Greetings,
       Re the "Hexagrip Pinblock", the site says, "The tighter the grip
on> the tuning pins, the longer the piano stays in tune.">>
 
   If this is true, then why doesn't Steinway and Sons use something
like Falconwood, where 200 in/lbs is an easy to get target?
   And, if this is true, why do so many Steinways have lower torque in
the low bass than in the high treble? I have seen this repeatedly and
one of these is a very expensive belly job from the Steinway
Restoration Dept. I  really think it should be reversed. Who on earth
needs to wrestle 150 in/lbs in the top octave? Maybe it is a case of
"why use finesse when brute force will do?"  A competent tech can tune
a 100 in/lb block as stably as a 150.
     Any experienced tech knows better than to give credibility to the
idea of Hexagrip superiority. The material is as good as any, but the
factory stringing so far down the line in quality compared to almost
any other brand I have seen it is hard to know it. Dealer techs usually
don't point out low torque pins, as long as the tuning holds, but if I
think a problem is up the road, I sure do.
     Maybe if the tech is employed by the brand, and has tasted deeply
of the Kool-Aid, the  sense of torque could be distorted by allegiance,
but I am not seeing these blocks as impressive in practice. Too much
inconsistency after a few years to lay any claim to greatness.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.piano-tuners.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20121023/08aa4b3d/attachment-0001.htm>