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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=3>----- Original Message =
-----
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><FONT
size=3><B>From:</B> </FONT><A href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM"
title=Billbrpt@AOL.COM><FONT size=3>Billbrpt@AOL.COM</FONT></A><FONT =
size=3>
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=3><B>To:</B> </FONT><A
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" title=pianotech@ptg.org><FONT
size=3>pianotech@ptg.org</FONT></A><FONT size=3> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=3><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, =
January 09,
2001 12:17 AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=3><B>Subject:</B> Re: Piano =
Brand Name
Puzzler</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica>In a message dated 1/8/01 10:23:27 PM =
Central
Standard Time, <BR><A
href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A> =
(Farrell)
writes: <BR></DIV><BR><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><FONT size=4>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: =
0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"
TYPE="CITE">Kimball</FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV></FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 =
FAMILY="SANSSERIF">> How on
earth did you guess. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>'Twas easy. There was only one choice! :-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Terry Farrell<BR>Piano Tuning & Service<BR>Tampa, Florida<BR><A =
href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A></DI=
V>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: =
0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A href="mailto:Billbrpt@AOL.COM" =
title=Billbrpt@AOL.COM>Billbrpt@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"
title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, January 09, 2001 =
12:17
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Piano Brand Name
Puzzler</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a =
message dated
1/8/01 10:23:27 PM Central Standard Time, <BR><A
href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A> =
(Farrell)
writes: <BR><BR></FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 =
size=4
FAMILY="SANSSERIF">
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"
TYPE="CITE">Kimball</FONT><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial =
lang=0 size=3
FAMILY="SANSSERIF"></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></FONT><FONT color=#000000 =
face=Arial
lang=0 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>How on earth did you guess. =
I
should add that the tuning pins were driven to <BR>the proper depth, =
the coils
were neat and uniform and the feel was firm but <BR>easily moved =
without any
jumping. It was easy to tune compared especially to <BR>some of =
the
pianos mentioned recently on this List, including Steinway, both =
<BR>grand and
upright. There was not a hint of false beating. The high
<BR>inharmonicity scale actually works to my advantage in the way I =
tune both
<BR>temperament and octaves. In short, I had no complaint nor any =
reason to
think <BR>poorly of this piano. <BR><BR>To me, it looked like one of =
Kimball's
pianos from the Chicago factory but <BR>the tag I read clearly stated =
that it
had been made in French Lick, IN with <BR>the case being made in =
Jasper (where
they apparently still do make piano <BR>cases). Everyone knows =
that
their quality control and workmanship went down <BR>drastically during =
the
'70's (and maybe a little before and after too) but <BR>that it did =
recover in
the last few years of production. <BR><BR>But couldn't that be said of =
Steinway too during its CBS ownership? To me, <BR>the Teflon =
bushings
were more of a scapegoat for numerous defects in <BR>workmanship. =
The
materials were sometimes questionable but the workmanship <BR>made =
matters
much worse. I think you could say the same for Kimball when it =
<BR>was
at its worst. <BR><BR>One long term client of mine who is also a good =
friend
who throws an annual <BR>wine and cheese party has a Kimball Viennese =
edition
upright. He hires a <BR>pianist to play for the event. At =
that
last event, I heard the owner ask the <BR>pianist what he thought of =
the
piano. His answer was "rich tone". It really <BR>surprised =
me
because I was thinking exactly the same thing. <BR><BR>Everyone knows =
about
the bad ones but I think its important to note that as a <BR>company, =
Kimball
was capable of and did produce some good pianos. Their old =
<BR>grands
had a really rich tone like none other and their really old uprights =
<BR>were
very well made although their brass flanges were not easy to service.
<BR><BR>Coincidentally, my 3rd appointment of the day was another =
Kimball,
this time <BR>a "Kimballette" from the Chicago factory in the 1950's. =
It
had a direct blow <BR>action but had keys with a big step in them. =
It
was very out of tune and <BR>hardly played at all because there was so =
much
lost motion that the hammers <BR>just bobbled against the strings. =
The
keys appeared unlevel and floating. <BR>There was so much lost =
motion in
the pedals that they barely worked. It <BR>sounded terrible and =
was
unplayable. <BR><BR>Now, I have 90 minutes and can decide to turn it =
down,
badmouth the <BR>manufacturer and make the customer feel stupid for =
even
having this thing in <BR>his living room and thinking it is a piano or =
I can
use the knowledge and <BR>skills I have built over the years and make =
this
instrument capable of <BR>playing music. I wouldn't earn much =
money
doing the first option but I would <BR>doing the second. <BR><BR>So, =
in
checking things out, I see that the capstans need a full turn or more. =
<BR> It could use cleaning but no keys were sticking so I decided =
to do a
capstan <BR>adjustment only. The alignment was good and there =
were no
rattling flanges <BR>and the let-off was reasonable close. =
Taking up the
lost motion also made <BR>the dampers lift properly. But there =
is no
capstan tool I know of that will <BR>even reach these capstans, not to =
mention
all of the tedious turning. <BR><BR>The best technique is to pull the =
key out
and give the capstan the estimated <BR>turn easily with the key in =
hand.
Just as in tuning, making a technique like <BR>this work =
requires being
able to make a good estimate. The goal is to move <BR>through =
all of the
capstans quickly and easily, avoiding stress and to pick <BR>out just =
a few
here or there that were a bit over or under turned. <BR><BR>As often =
happens,
when I finish, the customer knows it and comes out saying, <BR>"Now =
that's
*beautiful*!" I never get tired of hearing that. He sat =
down to
<BR>play and I heard the word "yes" and the sighs and/or moans of =
pleasure
that I <BR>hear from nearly anyone who plays a piano I have tuned and
serviced. He told <BR>me he was glad he had found me because he =
had
about given up hope that this <BR>piano would ever sound and play =
right.
He said, in fact, "All the other <BR>tuners I ever got *hated* =
it".
<BR><BR>Well, I didn't hate it at all, obviously, but what I really =
did enjoy
was the <BR>reaction of the customer to 90 minutes of good solid =
technique
applied <BR>efficiently and effectively. I also enjoyed the nice =
3
figure check that he <BR>wrote for my work. To paraphrase =
Liberace, "I
hated that Kimball all the way <BR>to the bank". <BR><BR>Bill Bremmer =
RPT
<BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>