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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Even just tuning the piano will =
sometimes cause
parts to break. First the elbows then the hammer flange or jack - wippen =
flange
- damper assembly - back check, if it has total plastic.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>Joe Goss<BR><A
href="mailto:imatunr@srvinet.com">imatunr@srvinet.com</A><BR><A
href="http://www.mothergoosetools.com">www.mothergoosetools.com</A></DI=
V>
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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=mkurta@adelphia.net =
href="mailto:mkurta@adelphia.net">Mike Kurta</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, July 12, 2003 =
7:42
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: lessons =
learned</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Hi =
Guys:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> A good way to =
describe the
plastic parts to the owner is to make a comparison to dry =
pretzels. They
both break very easily.......</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Mike =
Kurta</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=cedel@supernet.com =
href="mailto:cedel@supernet.com">Clyde
Hollinger</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, July 12, 2003 =
9:35
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: lessons =
learned</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Tom,
<P>Both are good lessons to remember. We all know that =
experience is a
good teacher, although most of us hope to avoid learning that way, =
at least
in the sense you did.
<P>Terry's response was good, as usual, so I won't repeat what he
said. The last time I worked on one of these buggers I talked =
with the
owner how repairs sometimes call for stressing the other parts a =
little,
such as pushing an upright jack a little to the side to get to the =
hammer
flange screw. That normally works okay, but when working with =
brittle
plastic you can work your way into lots of unwanted additional work =
right
down the line.
<P>And that's exactly what happened when I had to replace one of her =
damper
flanges. I barely had to breathe on its neighbor and there she =
goes. Since I had discussed the situation beforehand and =
gotten
approval from the owner, she paid for the work I did, but I left =
with one
damper flange still broken. I pointed it out to her, but since =
the
damper still worked okay I couldn't see putting more money into the =
piano,
and she agreed. A note on the service card now reads, "Don't =
touch
this piano again." I hope I have enough fortitude when she =
calls again
to stick to that.
<P>Regards, Clyde
<P>Tvak@aol.com wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="CITE"><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT =
color=#000000><FONT
size=-1>To all</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Today I taught
myself a couple of lessons. First of all, I will never break =
the
following rule ever again:</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Don't
ever...ever....even TOUCH a plastic flange unless it is glued to =
the
doorknob of the exit door and even only then if there's no other =
way
out.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=-1>I =
replaced a set
of elbows today. I knew that it had plastic wippen =
flanges.
Why was I so careless snapping that first elbow in place? =
The
price? Removal of the spinet action to replace the cracked =
plastic
wippen flange.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>The other 87
elbows snap in place with no further problem due to extreme care =
on my
part. Adjust the lost motion and...play the piano. =
Hmmm...the
hammer on middle C is double striking. I'll just move the =
backcheck
forward and... (What was I thinking...?)</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Out comes the
spinet action to replace the newly broken plastic wippen =
flange.
While replacing the wippen flange I brush against a damper lever =
and...now
I can replace the plastic damper flange on that damper lever =
and... the
one next to it which I also bumped into with the
screwdriver.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Back goes the
action and as I play the piano I realize that the damper lever on =
D5 is
not damping due to it's also being cracked. (I did look at =
them all
while they were out of the piano, but it was not visually =
apparent.)
Now, I was nowhere near D5 so I wonder if this was a pre-existing =
problem,
which leads me to the next lesson I learned:</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Check the piano
first to see if there are any problems.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>BTW, my original
service call on this piano was 6 months ago at which time I =
replaced 4
elbows and informed the client of the existence of all the plastic =
flanges, and the costs involved in replacing them. I advised =
him NOT
to put any money into this Lester spinet, other than replacing =
those 4
elbows that had already broken. Six months later he called =
to tell
me to go ahead with the elbows. In the back of my mind =
I was
thinking, wasn't this the piano with all the plastic =
flanges? But
rather than say anything, I just went ahead and made the
appointment. Which leads me to the last lesson for the
day:</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Take better
notes on each piano for future reference.</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=-1>I =
rarely share
my experiences with others on the list. Hope this was =
worth
reading...</FONT></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT face=Helvetica><FONT color=#000000><FONT =
size=-1>Tom
=
Sivak</FONT></FONT></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BO=
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