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<DIV><SPAN class=765403317-21122007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>Reply interspersed....</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Willem Blees
[mailto:wimblees@aol.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, December 21, 2007 11:22
AM<BR><B>To:</B> annie@allthingspiano.com;
pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: explanation(s),
please<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><WBR>Annie<BR><BR>On the offending strings/pins, did the strings go
way flat, or did the pins turn? If the pins turned, then the block is shot.
Just because the pins might feel tight, doesn't mean the block is bad. And
just the smallest movement will cause them to go south. <SPAN
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size=2> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV><SPAN class=765403317-21122007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>* I can't tell you whether the pins moved (although I assumed they did,
at that time). The pins weren't particularly tight... which is why the
BANG was so unexpected. My tuning hammer was off the pins when they went
flat. Now that you mention it, the times I've heard a similar noise was
when I loosened a pin that I had CAed, not when it moved on its
own.</FONT></SPAN></DIV><SPAN class=765403317-21122007><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN>
<DIV><BR>If the pins stayed, but the string went flat, then you have a plate
problem. One way to see if the plate is cracked is to measure the blow
distance. Check blow distance of note 88, and compare it with the one of the
notes in the 6th octave. Assuming the hammer line is level, if the plate is
cracked, and the middle is pushing up, then the blow distance will be
greater. <BR><SPAN class=765403317-21122007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#0000ff size=2> </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=765403317-21122007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>* I didn't notice anything in particular, but I can check next time I'm
there (70 miles from home, of course)... if I'm brave enough to get near the
thing! I can tell you that the hammer line had been relatively level
before that but was very uneven later (hadn't thought about it until you
mentioned it, there was so much else going on).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=765403317-21122007> </SPAN><BR>On an old piano like
this, advice the customer that this is a serious problem, and the piano needs
to be removed, ASAP, because it could explode, and cause a great deal of
damage and injury if anyone is close to the piano. <BR><SPAN
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size=2></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=765403317-21122007><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff
size=2>* That's starting to sound like the consensus, isn't
it.</FONT> <FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff size=2>
Thanks.</FONT></SPAN><BR></DIV>
<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>
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