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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello list</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yesterday I was called to tune and =
service two
pianos in a largish Sussex country house set amid acres of rolling =
pasture and
trees with a lake.... The two pianos were a Model "A" S&S round tail =
No.65717 (an old enemy with sluggish action) and this delightful square =
piano -
complete and now all working. It is an Astor & Horwood No.5775 and =
so out of
tune it was... terrible! The ruling pitch without too much change of =
tensions I
worked out to be: <U>C</U> = 437Hz. Even with all the care in the =
world one
string broke - but this was interesting in that it gave me a chance to =
"feel"
the quality of its "malleability" - and convinced me that in no way =
should I
attempt to replace it from my stock of Harpsichord string. As with all =
these
ancient instruments there's a lot of string as a coil on the large =
diameter
"oblong" tuning pin so I extracted the pin, unwound and straightened =
about two
inches of it and did my usual reef-knot preparations to both "ends" to =
be tied.
Worked a charm. The tuning pins were fairly loose anyway and the coils =
all over
the place. I therefore started by loosening off and "cinching" up =
the coils
one-by-one to give me the opportunity to pound the pins a bit further =
into the
pin block. That worked too. One of the dampers had come adrift. They are =
screwed
into a drum glued via a thick button of felt directly to the end of the =
key.
This means taking all dampers off to withdraw the action - but was not =
necessary
here. It's trial and frustration to get just one damper wire screwed =
back in to
its drum, let alone the whole lot! Can't see the other end, it's so =
tight down
there under the top bridge. Casework is also interesting. A bright rich
mahogany, brass-banded. No secret flaps to lift revealing a cavity at =
the bass
end. Legs are round, tapered and fluted. Surprising thing was the pedal =
lyre -
and lyre it is - just like a S&S - though smaller with just the one =
wooden
pedal. There's no metal frame. Tuning pins OK for a right handed - but =
I'm left
handed so just as well I'm ambidexterous! Tiny damper heads. Loose wound =
bass
strings leading into brass, then this malleable metal to the top. All =
bichord.
Hammers finished in leather. A truly beautiful specimen. Wish I could =
say that
about the S&S 85 note with no repetition worth talking about. Tried =
to talk
her into a <U>proper</U> rebuild - new hammer assemblies, levers the lot =
- but
she was too cagey. Can't have everything in this world I suppose - even =
with the
mansion,acreage and lake....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards all</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G (UK) on a beautiful sunny =
Saturday
morning - Maxim's swimming lesson at 9:00am followed by =
Violin.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>TTFN</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>