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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT =
face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> =
pianotech-bounces@ptg.org
[mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]<B>On Behalf Of =
</B>Farrell<BR><B>Sent:</B>
April 24, 2004 2:02 AM<BR><B>To:</B> =
pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B>
Wyman Microgrand - YUK!<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I tuned a Wyman Microgrand the other =
day. The
piano is about a year old. Is this a Chinese or Indonesian product? =
Where on
earth did this thing come from?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A couple interesting features: A =
5-ply laminated
soundboard and a 5-ply laminated bridge cap in the high treble. The =
soundboard
had micro-thin exterior veneers of some spruce-looking material =
(contact
paper?) and the interior three ply clearly appeared to be some type of =
hardwood - poplar? birch? selectus garbagatum? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Now the bridge cap - that thing =
really
rocked me. The long bridge was a solid piece of some kind of hardwood =
and the
manufacturer actually notched out an 8 mm or so thick chunk off the =
top of
this fine bridge to insert the laminated cap. Clearly, this was done
on-purpose. Presumably there was a reason to do this. What was that =
reason?
Because they have a no-compromise approach to piano building? Because =
the
bridge otherwise sounded sooooo bad - the laminated cap was an =
afterthought
fix attempt? Because they monitor this list? I don't know what the cap =
was
made of. It was not maple or beech. Could it have been ironwood (I =
don't think
so)? I hope it was not the same material the soundboard was made =
of - it
did look similar and the laminations were about the same
thickness.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yeah, but how did it sound? Much like =
an
uninspired microgrand. Small. Constrained. Short sustain. Lots of =
false stuff
up in the high treble.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Oh, and did I mention the tuning =
pins? <FONT
face=Kids color=#ff0000 size=5><EM>"CRACK!"</EM></FONT> =
Many of them did
the jumpy thing. And all of them flagpoled enough to make a Steinway =
vertical
seem like Steinway must use half-inch diameter hardened tuning =
pins. If
you wanted to raise or lower the pitch a half-cent, you would have to =
go 20
cents up or down to get any movement. During the pitch raise, I had to =
go 50
cents sharp to get the pitch where I wanted it after removing hammer =
from pin.
And that's the ones that were not jumpy! YIKES!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyway, that's all I gots to say =
'bout
that.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell<SPAN =
class=828570116-24042004><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080
size=3> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN =
class=828570116-24042004><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=3></FONT></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN =
class=828570116-24042004><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 size=3>So, what's your problem =
here, Terry?
You're not used to working with pianos of this fine and famed
quality?</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=828570116-24042004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN =
class=828570116-24042004><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=3>Del</FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=3><SPAN
class=828570116-24042004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=3><SPAN
class=828570116-24042004>PS. It's made in Beijing. By the same folks =
(Beijing
Xing Hai) that bring you the famed Lothar Schell grand pianos. Along =
with
numerous other Heritage Grand Pianos. I wonder if they have figured out =
what
action bedding screws are for yet?</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>