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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Being a tech in the Boston area avails me to half a dozen
or so Screw Stringers. They are very stable instruments, very easy to tune
once you get a rhythm going . They were designed for A 435 but 440 is no
problem. The one difficulty is when a string breaks. Replacing
strings is not too easy. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>If you are lucky the tuning hammer which looks like a
T-hammer will be hanging in a holder inside the piano on the bass side. A
few of my customers pianos have handy instructions attached to the tool
holder. One instruction is to always set the note from flat</FONT><FONT
face=Tahoma><STRONG>. </STRONG> I've heard that the original screw
stringer tuning tool is more valuable than the pianos they came with.
Schaff sells a Mason and Hamlin wrench no. 19. I'm sure that tool is
not more valuable than the piano but it does double as a let-off
regulating tool in some grands.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Any ideas to make string changing less of a chore would be
appreciated.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Century Schoolbook">The Mason & Hamlin uprights had a
system called the "screw stringer" system will sounds very close to what you
are describing. Unusual, but stable system.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Century Schoolbook">Tom Servinsky</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=karlkaputt@hotmail.com href="mailto:karlkaputt@hotmail.com">Gregor
_</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, July 22, 2008 5:33
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> very strange tuning
mechanism</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>in some old pianos (very seldom) we find very strange
mechanisms for tuning, i.e. without tuning pins. Instead of the pins there
are screws. The function is like the fine tuning screws of violins. Did you
ever see such mechanisms? I saw 2 of them in the last 10 years: one Crasselt
& Raehse and one Gebr. Meusel, Hamburg. Have you ever heard of Meusel? I
could find nothing with Google and my Lexikon Of German Pianomakers says
nothing, too. And in a book I read about Emil Lämmerhirt, Berlin, who
constructed pianos with a "Patentschraubenstimmung" (patent screw
tuning).<BR><BR>I regret that I had no camera to make pictures of these
historic interesting instruments. Has anybody else fotos of these
mechanisms? At least that Crasselt & Raehse had a very stable tuning. I
came back after 3 years and the tuning was still fine.<BR><BR>Gregor<BR><BR>
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