<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Yes Bill, I agree. When I approach a piano, I always do my utmost = to service it well, and to see how much I can improve it. My dislike of = Kimball comes from only being able to reach a certain level of performance = before the piano stops me, because it would be impossible to go further with = it, without rebuilding and or re-designing it.</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">From: <A title=Billbrpt@AOL.COM = href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM">Billbrpt@AOL.COM</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">To: <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 = 10:17 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Subject: Re: Piano Brand Name Puzzler</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>In a = message dated 1/8/01 10:23:27 PM Central Standard Time, <A href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A> = (Farrell) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px = solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">Kimball</BLOCKQUOTE> How on earth did you = guess.  I should add that the tuning pins were driven to the proper = depth, the coils were neat and uniform and the feel was firm but easily = moved without any jumping.  It was easy to tune compared especially to = some of the pianos mentioned recently on this List, including Steinway, = both grand and upright.  There was not a hint of false beating. =  The high inharmonicity scale actually works to my advantage in the way = I tune both temperament and octaves. In short, I had no complaint nor any = reason to think poorly of this piano. To me, it looked like one = of Kimball's pianos from the Chicago factory but the tag I read = clearly stated that it had been made in French Lick, IN with the case = being made in Jasper (where they apparently still do make piano cases).  Everyone knows that their quality control and workmanship went = down drastically during the '70's (and maybe a little before and after = too) but that it did recover in the last few years of production. = But couldn't that be said of Steinway too during its CBS ownership? =  To me, the Teflon bushings were more of a scapegoat for numerous defects = in workmanship.  The materials were sometimes questionable but = the workmanship made matters much worse.  I think you could say = the same for Kimball when it was at its worst. One long term client = of mine who is also a good friend who throws an annual wine and cheese = party has a Kimball Viennese edition upright.  He hires a pianist to play = for the event.  At that last event, I heard the owner ask the pianist = what he thought of the piano.  His answer was "rich tone".  It = really surprised me because I was thinking exactly the same thing. Everyone knows about the bad ones but I think its important to = note that as a company, Kimball was capable of and did produce some = good pianos.  Their old grands had a really rich tone like none = other and their really old uprights were very well made although their brass = flanges were not easy to service. Coincidentally, my 3rd appointment = of the day was another Kimball, this time a "Kimballette" from the = Chicago factory in the 1950's.  It had a direct blow action but had = keys with a big step in them.  It was very out of tune and hardly = played at all because there was so much lost motion that the hammers just = bobbled against the strings.  The keys appeared unlevel and floating.   There was so much lost motion in the pedals that they barely = worked.  It sounded terrible and was unplayable. Now, I have = 90 minutes and can decide to turn it down, badmouth the manufacturer = and make the customer feel stupid for even having this thing in his living = room and thinking it is a piano or I can use the knowledge and skills I = have built over the years and make this instrument capable of playing music. =  I wouldn't earn much money doing the first option but I would doing = the second. So, in checking things out, I see that the capstans = need a full turn or more.  It could use cleaning but no keys were = sticking so I decided to do a capstan adjustment only.  The alignment = was good and there were no rattling flanges and the let-off was reasonable = close.  Taking up the lost motion also made the dampers lift = properly.  But there is no capstan tool I know of that will even reach = these capstans, not to mention all of the tedious turning. The best technique is to pull the key out and give the capstan the estimated = turn easily with the key in hand.  Just as in tuning, making a = technique like this work requires being able to make a good estimate.  The = goal is to move through all of the capstans quickly and easily, avoiding = stress and to pick out just a few here or there that were a bit over or = under turned. As often happens, when I finish, the customer knows it = and comes out saying, "Now that's *beautiful*!"  I never get = tired of hearing that.  He sat down to play and I heard the word "yes" = and the sighs and/or moans of pleasure that I hear from nearly anyone who = plays a piano I have tuned and serviced.  He told me he was glad he = had found me because he had about given up hope that this piano would ever = sound and play right.  He said, in fact, "All the other tuners I ever = got *hated* it". Well, I didn't hate it at all, obviously, but = what I really did enjoy was the reaction of the customer to 90 minutes of = good solid technique applied efficiently and effectively.  I also = enjoyed the nice 3 figure check that he wrote for my work.  To = paraphrase Liberace, "I hated that Kimball all the way to the bank". = Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin = </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>