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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Terry,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I remember once chatting with an
immigrant Russian tech who was busily restoring an S&S M for a =
piano
dealer. He was fiercely proud of the Renner action he was
installing. "German," he said with an assured smile. He was
obviously as happy as he could be.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>He told me a bit about his =
history. He did
belly work (as I recall) for a Russian piano company. He hated his =
job
there, because the machinery was inferior, and he wasn't allowed the =
time needed
to fit parts correctly. Construction/assembly was very haphazard =
at
best. He said, contemptuously, that Russian pianos "are all
CRAP." (his emphasis and wording) I remember being a bit =
surprised,
considering Russia's attention to the arts.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I felt quite happy for the man that he =
found his
way to a satisfying job, where he was doing his best work on pianos he
considered worthy of his time.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With regard to the church's piano, I =
would venture
a guess that it's just the nature of the beast. I bet the =
soundboard is
poorly designed, poorly fit, and perhaps rather thick. It's =
also
quite possible that wire diameters were whatever the factory had on hand =
at the
time. Just a guess.</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; =
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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=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</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> Saturday, February 21, =
2004 6:27
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Quiet Russian =
Piano</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I looked at a piano for one of my =
customers that
someone had donated to his church. I think it is Russian - a Liski, or =
something like that. Looks to be less than 20 years old and is a =
studio.
Everything works OK, except it has no power - you can bang on the =
keys, but
only moderated volume results. I checked the action - blow distance =
and the
like - made sure the bridges were attached, etc. My strong suspicion =
is that
the string scale and soundboard designs are just so far out of whack =
that the
lack of power is simply part of this piano and always will be. Any =
thoughts?
Might I be missing something?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Perhaps, to put things into proper =
perspective, I
should mention this piano is in an African-American Missionary Baptist =
Church.
I guarantee you they are looking for some VOLUME! I did offer the =
suggestion
of miking (how do you spell mice-ing?) the piano if they were =
going to be
using that piano. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fun Kinda Related Story:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In a similar church I service a Kawai =
6-foot or
so grand. One time they called me because the sustain pedal wasn't =
working.
Sounded pretty typical to me - sure, they likely beat the pedal right =
off the
lyre or something. When I got there I realized that the pedal simply =
had no
travel - in fact, none of the pedals had any travel - they were right =
on the
stage floor. Hmmmmmmm, what could it be. Then I noticed that this =
Kawai was
the model where the two front legs were shorter than the back leg - =
they had
pounded that piano so hard that the two front legs went through the =
stage
floor and the only reason the keybed was not on the floor was that the =
lyre
had yet to be pounded through the floor - the front of the piano was =
only
being supported by the lyre. YIKES!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry
Farrell</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>