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-----Original Message-----<br>
From: pianolover 88 <pianolover88@hotmail.com><br>
To: Pianotech List <pianotech@ptg.org><br>
Sent: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 7:47 pm<br>
Subject: RE: stumped<br>
<br>
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<<Why in the world <br>
<PRE>would anyone put 3/0 pins in a new block???>><br>
<br>
>From what I gather, the "technician" who did the "rebuild" probably was just too lazy to order smaller pins, or was grossly under-prepared and that's the smallest sozed pins he had at the moment. Or...because there might be less "flagpolling" since Steinway grands don't have tuning pin bushings.<br>
</PRE><br>
Terry Peterson<br>
<br>
<br>
<EM>He could also have drilled the pins too fast, or with a dull bit. He probably tried 2/0, but found them too loose. Or he just didn't know what he was doing.<br>
</EM><br>
<br>
<div style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<br>
Piano Tuner/Technician<br>
Honolulu, HI<br>
Author of <br>
The Business of Piano Tuning<br>
available from Potter Press<br>
www.pianotuning.com</div>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 23:36:35 -0600<br>
> From: <A href="mailto:rnossaman@cox.net">rnossaman@cox.net</A><br>
> To: <A href="mailto:l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net">l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net</A>; <A href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A><br>
> Subject: Re: stumped<br>
> <br>
> Leslie Bartlett wrote:<br>
> > I tuned (no I really didn't) for "Dennis" today- and old Howard (sn <br>
> > 220***- for which I didn't find a reasonable match in Pierce's). The <br>
> > retired engineer had married a Russian lady, young enough to be his <br>
> > daughter- and nicely I made that mistake. Bass strings were dead, <br>
> > multiple bridge cracks, the strings painted gold, several replaced, <br>
> > about six pins in the center where a tiny amount of counterclockwise <br>
> > pressure sent the string a half or whole tone flat. They also popped <br>
> > loudly when they let loose- like Baldwin, only it was virtually no <br>
> > useful tension on the pin. There were a couple pins up around note 80 <br>
> > which were the same way. Hammer 88 was within 1mm of having the felt <br>
> > open up at the bottom of the grooves on the flat-topped hammers. <br>
> > Problem was, the man had bought this as a birthday present for this wife <br>
> > who is a HIGH level concert player while she was out of the country. <br>
> > I was there over four hours, so mad that they guy had gotten screwed (I <br>
> > believe the damage was done before prior owner sold it to him- she <br>
> > wasn't a player, so bought it mostly as furniture), and that I couldn't <br>
> > make a decent tuning. The Russian asked if I had ever tuned a piano <br>
> > like this before………………………. I pulled the action and went through <br>
> > everything with him, and he seemed more than satisfied that little if <br>
> > anything could be done- but the wife- I think she wanted me dead. <br>
> > <br>
> > When and HOW does one just give up on a POS when nothing works? This <br>
> > really bothered me. I've tuned Howards before and hated them, but got <br>
> > them tuned. Nothing rendered decently, nothing stayed stable for me. <br>
> > I've never had anything quite like this before, and hope I never do again.<br>
> > <br>
> > They can't afford another piano, though their house was probably valued <br>
> > at twice mine, and they had two rather new cars (Honda an Buick) I <br>
> > think. I'm coming off a week of three Houston Symphony Tunings, <br>
> > another major Hall, two tunings of the most expensive piano in town, and <br>
> > directing two performances of the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. <br>
> > I know I was tired……… But I had just done quite ok on a Petrof for one <br>
> > of my really persnickety customers, so I haven't completely lost my <br>
> > "tuning mind". I'm mad they got screwed, mad she can't play musically <br>
> > on this pos, but still feel somehow I should have been able to do <br>
> > something to make it work. Sorry to be kind of nuts here, but I'm <br>
> > feeling kind of lost.<br>
> > <br>
> > les bartlett<br>
> > <br>
> <br>
> It doesn't matter what they just did, or someone else just <br>
> did, or what anyone's intentions and expectations may be. The <br>
> bottom line is the current condition of the piano and what can <br>
> be done with it at what price to meet performance <br>
> expectations. That's it. It doesn't realistically get any more <br>
> complicated than that without your sanction.<br>
> <br>
> Case in point: Some months ago, I looked at a piano (Steinway <br>
> L) that had been "rebuilt", but had a number of insupportable <br>
> problems which prompted the call to me to look at it. I find <br>
> touch weights in the mid 70s, and one of the more dramatic and <br>
> extensive killer octave manifestation I've seen in all the <br>
> years I've been in business. The soundboard is, of course, <br>
> original and "repaired".<br>
> <br>
> The plate seems to have been dipped in a glaringly copper <br>
> colored goo, which is flaking off in large chunks. The <br>
> thinnest loose chunk I found was 0.75mm thick.<br>
> <br>
> Downbearing was from 1°+ in the tenor, to -2.5° in the high <br>
> treble, with negative crown through the top half of the scale.<br>
> <br>
> The pinblock was new, with new 3/0 pins! Why in the world <br>
> would anyone put 3/0 pins in a new block???<br>
> <br>
> Bottom line is that the money they spent on the previous <br>
> rebuild was not only wasted, but actually did damage. This <br>
> instrument is the source of evening therapy for the owner, and <br>
> hasn't delivered anything but misery since it was "rebuilt". <br>
> To finally get around to where this is going, I could have <br>
> done a grand or two worth of regulation and voicing to try and <br>
> minimize the wretchedness of this piano, but would have just <br>
> further screwed the poor guy in doing so, in my estimation. <br>
> Sure, I felt sorry for him, but there wasn't anything real I <br>
> could do to help without buying the problem myself. So I did <br>
> the hard thing and told and showed him (as I could) in painful <br>
> detail what was done, what wasn't done, what should have <br>
> minimally been done, and what was possible. He ultimately went <br>
> for what was possible, and the piano came in today for a <br>
> redesign and remanufacture. After all the misery, and all the <br>
> money wasted, I hope and fully expect to supply him with a <br>
> happy ending. I intend to give it my best shot.<br>
> <br>
> So here's the deal. The situation that was set up before you <br>
> became involved isn't your fault or problem. It's also not <br>
> your problem to come up with a fix that's contrary to reality. <br>
> If it takes doing over, that's what it takes. If the customer <br>
> won't accept that, they are free to put themselves on the <br>
> plate of the next bottom feeder in line. There are plenty to <br>
> accommodate. Meanwhile, you maintain supportable standards and <br>
> credibility, and minimize losing projects.<br>
> <br>
> Ain't no free lunch.<br>
> <br>
> Ron N<br>
<br>
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