<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Re: Mason and Hamlin A, circa 1909: What to do with loose tuning pinsinbass...</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"/> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"/> <style> </style> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff"> <div align="left">I think he was giving all the possible quick fixes...<br/><br/>David Ilvedson, RPT<br/>Pacifica, CA 94044<br/><br/> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; border-left: #000000 3px solid; padding-top: 5px"> <hr/>Original message<br/>From: "John Ross" <jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca> </jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca><br/>To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech@ptg.org> </pianotech@ptg.org><br/>Received: 12/28/2007 9:59:47 PM<br/>Subject: Re: Mason and Hamlin A, circa 1909: What to do with loose tuning pinsinbass...<br/><br/> <div align="left"><strong><font face="Arial">I can't believe it, so I had to read it twice.</font></strong></div> <div><strong><font face="Arial">Who in their right mind, still uses those metal sleeves.</font></strong></div> <div><strong><font face="Arial">I bought some in the 70's to try. </font></strong></div> <div><strong><font face="Arial">Tried them, determined they were not a valid fix, so never used them again. </font></strong></div> <div><strong><font face="Arial">I might even still have them someplace.</font></strong></div> <div><strong><font face="Arial">Then again, on reading the message once again, it doesn't make sense. It suggests four fixes?</font></strong></div> <div>John M. Ross<br/>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<br/><a href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</a></div> <blockquote dir="ltr" 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="bunkypiano@aol.com" href="mailto:bunkypiano@aol.com">bunkyaol</a> </div> <div style="font: 10pt arial"><b>To:</b> <a title="pianotech@ptg.org" href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</a> </div> <div style="font: 10pt arial"><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, December 29, 2007 1:27 AM</div> <div style="font: 10pt arial"><b>Subject:</b> Re: Mason and Hamlin A, circa 1909: What to do with loose tuning pins inbass...</div> <div><br/></div> <div><font size="2">Obviously pin block, remove strings by keeping tension on them as you spin them out...ca & pin block restorer and metal sleeves, oversize all the bass pins, re install and tune, remove original bend....you've got a pin block to replace but this may give you a few years, maybe not if it's delamed or split, good luck.</font></div> <div><font size="2">tom mc</font></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="piannaman@aol.com" href="mailto:piannaman@aol.com">piannaman@aol.com</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> Friday, December 28, 2007 10:47 PM</div> <div style="font: 10pt arial"><b>Subject:</b> Mason and Hamlin A, circa 1909: What to do with loose tuning pins inbass...</div> <div><br/></div> <div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi All,<br/><br/>I worked on a 1909 M and H today, and the piano was in almost pristine condition.  It is an absolutely wonderful piano.  The action plays great, hammers are in excellent shape, the strings have very few "false" beats.  The only problem is the pinblock.  The wire sections are okay, but the bass has probably 20 loose pins.  Most of the low bass pins are loose.<br/><br/>I would like to remedy this.  Even though it should be able to hold tune for the short term, they won't be stable for any length of time.  Here are the choices as I see them:<br/><br/>1).  CA that section of block.  I really don't want to do this on this particular piano, even though it would be the quickest fix.  <br/><br/>2).  Replace bass tuning pins.  This is a good option, imho, with the drawback being brittle beckets breaking (say that ten times in a row....).  Replacing individual strings on a piano of this age will compromise the even and beautiful tone that the piano has.  Tying broken strings with thick cores can be challenging, too.<br/><br/>3).  Replace all strings and pins.  In the long run, I think this is the best option.  They certainly could afford it.<br/><br/>4).  Insert your thoughts here, please.<br/><br/>I'm going to leave things as they are for now, and check on it again in 6 months or so to see how things are holding.<br/><br/>A side note to this:  when I told the family that their piano would be 100 in a couple of years, one of the little girls started to get all excited about having a birthday party for it!<br/><br/>Thanks for reading,<br/></font></div> <div><br/></div> <div style="clear: both">Dave Stahl<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font><br/>Dave Stahl Piano Service<br/>dstahlpiano.net</div> <div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top: 10px"/>More new features than ever. Check out the new <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div> <p> </p> <hr/> <p> </p>No virus found in this incoming message.<br/>Checked by AVG Free Edition. <br/>Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.11/1201 - Release Date: 12/28/2007 11:51 AM<br/> </blockquote> </blockquote> </div> </div> </body> </html>