<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; =
charset=windows-1252">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Bill,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Funny! I remember tuning my =
children's toys
too! ;-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This sounds a bit like the Fender =
Rhodes I had
in college. That's not to say that it "sounds" like the Rhodes -- =
just
that your description suggests some commonalities. The Rhodes had =
tines
(the metal rods) with "a thin wire wrapped around the ends." To =
tune a
tine, slide the wrapped wire (which is a fine tuning weight) back and =
forth on
the tine. Ease it towards the end to lower the pitch.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You say *some* of the rods have wires =
on the
ends. Those can be tuned, but the others will need wire =
wrappings to
be tunable. Add a wrapping perhaps 80% out on the tine (flattening =
it),
and snip/grind a tiny bit off of the end of the tine (sharpening =
it). Then
adjust as you would with any other tine. Alternatively, you can =
add
wrappings to all the tines and do a slight pitch lowering on the =
entire
instrument.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you want to get fancy, you can play =
with the
harmonic content of the sound by altering the strike point.
:-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hmmmmm.... I wonder what one of =
those toy
pianos would sound like with inductive pickups and an amp! Use =
PlastiCoat
on the plastic hammers to "voice" them down, and it might sound a bit =
like a
Rhodes. Now THAT would be something cool for your grandchild to =
jam
on! <wink></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </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=wpeterson2@socal.rr.com =
href="mailto:wpeterson2@socal.rr.com">w
peterson</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, March 19, 2004 =
10:31
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Schoenhut Kids =
Piano</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Has anybody tuned a Schoenhut Kids =
Piano?
It is a real cute little upright. It has rods that are stuck in =
a metal
bar. Plastic hammers strike the rods by means of a very crude =
escapement
bar. Some of the rods have a thin wire wrapped around the =
ends. I
have to tune this for my Grandson, and I need all of the help I can =
get.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You can see these toy pianos at <A
href="http://www.toypiano.com">www.toypiano.com</A> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bill Peterson in the South Bay of Los =
Angeles</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>