<!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 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Avery,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I wouldn't count too heavily on email alone. =
With spam
filters and all, there's a fair chance these days that it might not have =
made it
through. Try another contact method: phone, fax, snail mail. =
Isn't
every Shigeru supposed to get a visit from a factory rep?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I've sure liked the ones I've played.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy Shuster--</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Rochester, MN</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=avery@ev1.net href="mailto:avery@ev1.net">Avery Todd</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> Thursday, February 19, =
2004 7:37
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Voicing up Shigeru =
Kawai
SK3</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Hi Stéphane, <BR><BR>There's not much I can tell you =
about this
(I could, but I won't!) :-) <BR><BR>My university bought a 7' Shigeru =
about
1-1/2 yrs. ago and it still <BR>hasn't been "serviced" like it was =
supposed to
have been. A Kawai <BR>tech was recently in town to service some =
"sales" and I
even sent an<BR>e-mail requesting (again!) that ours be serviced as =
promised
when one<BR>buys a Shigeru. No one even responded to my e-mail! =
Well,
that was <BR>the end of January and so far, no one even has contacted =
me to
have that <BR>done! So, I'm sure "that" tech has long since gone back =
home! It
was <BR>supposed to have been done the next time one of their techs =
was in
town, <BR>according to the dealer! <BR><BR>As you might be able to =
guess, I'm
not very happy and at this point, I<BR>wouldn't recommend anyone buy a =
Shigeru
based on those "promises"! <BR><BR>Sorry. It really surprises me and =
most of
all, disappoints me! <BR><BR>Avery <BR><BR>At 03:31 PM 2/19/04, you =
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT face=arial
size=2>Hello,<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT face=arial size=2>I =
own a brand new
Shigeru Kawai SK3 that the Kawai technician in France has<BR>made, =
according
to me, too deep voicing on notes in the treeble range (octave =
5 to
6).<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT face=arial size=2>Although he =
disagrees with
that, the tone is slightly too mellow in this range,<BR>from =
pianissimo up
to mezzo forte. At pianissimo or piano, the higher partials =
are<BR>reduced
compared to neighboring octaves (impacted notes are from 55 to =
69),<BR>and
the attack looks a bit dull.<BR>Those higher partials are coming =
back with
more strength on the key. However,<BR>these notes always require =
slightly
more strength to produce a balanced sound.<BR>From Mezzo forte up to =
Forte,
things are OK (overall loudness and tone quality<BR>is well
balanced)<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT face=arial size=2>The =
technician made
several filing with very limited improvement. I'm not =
a<BR>specialist, just
a pianist - but my engineering background and what I =
learned<BR>reading your
very interesting posts, tell me that there has been likely too =
much<BR>deep
needling in the higher section of the =
shoulders.<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT
face=arial size=2>The Shigeru hammers are cold-pressed and are =
considered as
medim/soft in<BR>europe. May be they are not very robust to =
extensive
voicing.<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT face=arial size=2>I'm =
wondering what
could be the best solution to recover some power to these<BR>15 =
hammers :
dry ironing, juicing or changing those 15 hammer heads ?<BR>Kawai =
says the
tone will not be even if I change only a sub set of hammers<BR>(they =
don't
want to replace either full set of subset
anyway...).<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT face=arial size=2>Have you =
experienced
changing subset of hammers in this range ?<BR>Which hammer head =
brand would
you recommend for those Kawai pianos (softer<BR>than Yamaha...) =
?<BR>Do you
think dry ironing would make it ? (actually the recovery level I'm
expecting<BR>is not that big and the felt thickness is small in this =
range,
so this could work).<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT face=arial =
size=2>Many thanks
for your feedbacks,<BR>Sincerely yours,<BR>Stephane Hanriat<BR><A
=
href="mailto:stephane.hanriat@free.fr">stephane.hanriat@free.fr</A><BR>=
</FONT> <BR><FONT
face=arial size=2>PS : This being said, the SK3 is an =
outstanding
instrument. Action is close to<BR>perfection, overall tone is =
wonderful,
rich, not too harsh like Yamaha and the<BR>softer hammers give you =
great
control and margin in the way you produce
=
louder<BR>sound.<BR></FONT> <BR> </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BO=
DY></HTML>