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<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Another question re pins. Why are #2 pins used in
a new block?</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Wouldn't it make more sense to use
#1.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I have always used the #2 in a new
pinblock.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I have a mini piano I am putting a block in, and I
am using #1 pins. #1 had been used initially.</FONT></DIV></STRONG>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=wimblees@aol.com href="mailto:wimblees@aol.com">Willem Blees</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> Tuesday, December 04, 2007 1:42
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: stumped</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: pianolover 88
<<A
href="mailto:pianolover88@hotmail.com">pianolover88@hotmail.com</A>><BR>To:
Pianotech List <<A
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>><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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