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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Howdy all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Back again to the Seiler, model 240, 8' =
(I think)
grand. This piano is becoming a pain. Grr...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>History: I took care of it (when =
it was new)
for 2 or 3 years before I moved away in 1995. The piano is =
memorable to me
because a bass string broke while tuning, flew out of the piano, across =
the room
and hit a fancy armoire. Another time a treble wire =
broke while
tuning. Voicing was done with each tuning to keep the =
brightness
under control, but I still ended up having to mute the first three =
notes of
the 1st treble section duplex because of bleed =
through. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>While I was gone, another technician =
(the tune and
run, type, I'm afraid) tuned it regularly. The string breakage got =
worse. Eventually, the owner sent the piano to a shop to get =
restrung,
have the hammers reshaped and the action regulated. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2005: When I moved back =
to the
area, the customer contacted me and wanted me to resume servicing the =
piano, it
hadn't been serviced since the restringing and regulation was done on it =
(maybe
9 months?).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The first time I serviced the piano I =
nearly
fainted because plastic and acetone had been used on these
already very hard hammers. But, I noticed that there was =
no
bleed through in the 1st treble section and assumed whatever =
the
problem was, had been taken care of when it was restrung. I =
ended up
doing some hammer shaping which seems to have taken care of the =
plastic
sound and I used hammer softener on the shoulders so I could get my =
needles
in. This opened up the sound somewhat, relieving some of the
thin nasal quality of the voicing. (The customer
requested a big voicing session before trying new
hammers). Though its a lot better than it was, I'm =
still
not very impressed with this instrument.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Between the 2nd & 3rd service calls =
(scheduled
every three months) the bleed through returned--in the exact same
spot. I did everything I know (except removing the strings and =
having a
look at the v-bar), and in spite of a fairly mellow voice (for these =
hammers) I
still ended up weaving cloth into the front =
duplex. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is this a case of a defective =
v-bar?
Does that happen? If so, can something be done about it? =
Actually, I
think the owner is considering getting a different instrument =
because of
this and the past string breakage problem. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BTW, I asked if he had ever had a =
string breakage
problem with any other instruments he had owned and the answer was
no. He reported to me that when he talked to someone at =
Seiler about
the string breakage, they said it was because the tuner was not letting =
down the
string tension first before tuning. Gosh, I only do that when =
I
suspect a problem piano--have I been tuning the wrong way all these
years?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for your thoughts,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Barbara Richmond, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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