<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>RE: Tuning problems: capo improvement suggestions</title></head><body> <div>At 9:20 AM -0800 25/1/03, Nelson. Gene (PWA) wrote:</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite>I will share an experience that worked for this sort of thing.<br> Working with a local rebuilder replacing a block in an SS-B the string hight<br> was different from tenor to high treble. The correction was also a fix for<br> string rendering problems under the capo. Turned plate upside down and<br> ground capo flat. Also ground a groove in it and inserted a steel rod.</blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite>Sealed it in with jb weld. Worked beautifully.</blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>As indeed it would.</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite>Another thing that was</blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite>discovered was a small flaw in the casting here and there in the form of air<br> bubbles. Could easily account for one string that sings beautifully while<br> it's neighbor is a dud.</blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite>Gene</blockquote> <div><br></div> <div>Yes indeed, although a bridge or sound board problem is more usually to blame. The usual capo hole fix at Steinway is to fill them with nickel, which is just about the worst possible metal for capo bar repair. It gets cut very easily by the wire and sounds 'dead' in a very short time.</div> <div><br></div> <div>We have dealt with the problem over a number of years by grinding out the offending nickel and welding up the hole with a cast iron filler rod before reshaping and hardening the capo and duplex bars<font color="#0000FF"> (if you are unsure of the type of iron in the plate, you can always grind off a bit of the plate from a non-strategic spot)</font>. We had to do a couple of capo welds on the plate for our piano no. 003 as well. If you check out the overhead image of this piano on our website you will notice that a small section of the lower bass end web has been cut away just underneath the bass end music rest guide and adjacent to the outer rim - the off cut made a perfect filler rod.</div> <div>http://overspianos.com.au/OS003.html</div> <div><br></div> <div>The best oxy-acetylene welding torch for the purpose is the Henrob<font color="#0000FF"> (originally an Australian invention which was sold under the brand name Dillon, but the owner and inventor Mr Dillon sold his patent to the US company who now manufacture it under the Henrob brand name. I notice that Henrob have absolutely nothing on their website which mentions the way in which they acquired the technology)</font>. Nevertheless, the Henrob torch is the best. It burns with such a clean flame that you can weld cast iron without flux. Its all achieved via the patented acetylene and oxygen mixing chamber.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Ron O.</div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div>_______________________<br> <br> OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY<br> Grand Piano Manufacturers</div> <div><br></div> <div>Web: http://overspianos.com.au</div> <div>mailto:info@overspianos.com.au</div> <div>_______________________</div> </body> </html>