<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1528" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hey, this looks exactly like my piano !!! Are they "usually" nicknamed "birdcages", or is just a funny name invented by Jim ?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I was warned against the risk of string breakage with such an old thing, but having tuned it once or twice and slightly raised it, </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>I decided to try it up to A440 and there were absolutely no problems. no string breakage at all. (there was no rust... </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>this piano rested for 60 years under the mediteranean climate)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>About the mute, I also remove the action, which takes me 5 seconds (turn both the wooden locks on the side, tilt the action and lift it and put it on the top - a little bit longer to put it back...) </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>but it's not so easy to put the felt strip to a place were it is not going to hinder the action. I usualy put is as low as I can. For the bass, you can even open the bottom panel and put the felt in the lower part of the piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For the papp's mute, I always wondered how do blind or sight impaired tuners in front of such a piano. Not that it is not possible, but seeing what you do when inserting the mute between the hammer's shanks and the damper lift wires can help much... especially since you need to move the hammers shanks to insert it in between, and then, when you remove it, it tends to grab everything it can... (you know, like when you try to put the cat in the transport cage to bring it to the vet :-) )</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Philippe Errembault</FONT></DIV></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=pianoforte@pianofortesupply.com href="mailto:pianoforte@pianofortesupply.com">Jurgen Goering</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, May 13, 2006 6:14 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Birdcage tuning</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Birdcage tuning with strip mutes can be a breeze. Pull back or take out the action (quicker to do with birdcages than contemporary actions) and strip mute below the strike line from the tenor section all the way to the top. Replace the action. I also like to strip mute the bass above the damper assembly because of the leaky dampers. Then I tune all the middle strings, remove the strip mutes and tune the outer strings using a Papp's mute. No need for a lamp to see where you are - moving the Papp's mute along, across the unisons, tells me exactly where I am.<BR><BR><?smaller>Jurgen Goering<BR>Piano Forte Supply<BR>(250) 754-2440<BR>info@pianofortesupply.com<BR>http://www.pianofortesupply.com<BR><BR><?/smaller>----- Original Message -----<BR><B><?fontfamily><?param Arial><?x-tad-smaller>From:<?/x-tad-smaller><?/fontfamily></B><?fontfamily><?param Arial><?x-tad-smaller> <?/x-tad-smaller><?color><?param 0000,0000,EEEE><?x-tad-smaller>Jim<?/x-tad-smaller><?/color><?x-tad-smaller> <?/x-tad-smaller><?x-tad-smaller><BR><?/x-tad-smaller><B><?x-tad-smaller>To:<?/x-tad-smaller></B><?x-tad-smaller> <?/x-tad-smaller><?color><?param 0000,0000,EEEE><?x-tad-smaller>Pianotech List<?/x-tad-smaller><?/color><?x-tad-smaller> <BR><?/x-tad-smaller><B><?x-tad-smaller>Sent:<?/x-tad-smaller></B><?x-tad-smaller> Saturday, May 13, 2006 2:09 AM<BR><?/x-tad-smaller><B><?x-tad-smaller>Subject:<?/x-tad-smaller></B><?x-tad-smaller> Birdcage tuning<BR><BR><?/x-tad-smaller><?/fontfamily><?smaller><?x-tad-smaller>Other issues aside, how does one strip mute a piano of this design . . <BR>They really give me a pain . .  luckily, only have a few customers with these 'antiques' . .<BR>JIm Kinnea<?/x-tad-smaller><?/smaller><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>