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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Hi Ed:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> What a colorful =
story you
told. Well done! Welcome to the world of birdcage =
pianos. Like
square grands, one has to appreciate them for what they are-state of the =
art at
the time, and horrible pains by today's standards. The cases are
beautiful, with fine marketry work, inlaid patterns, veneer matching, =
etc, etc,
but they can be troublesome to service. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I've worked on =
several, my
daughter has one, so these tips may help. First in pitch raising =
and
tuning, I've found it helpful to mark each string with its note =
signature on the
plate at the tuning pin which corresponds to the note being tuned. =
This
way, the action can be removed once, and the piano can be tuned by =
chipping
(plucking) the strings. It may not be perfect, but close =
enough.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> The damper problem =
stems from
the dampers not exerting enough pressure against the strings to =
effectively
work. (Duh). As has been suggested, make sure the damper =
wires have
slight up and down play in them to be sure they are not holding the =
dampers away
from the strings when the action is in place. These can be =
adjusted by
adjuster screws or bending the wires, depending on the =
design.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Next, be sure the =
action as a
whole is up tight toward the strings as far as it can go. If =
anything
prevents this, even a few thousandths of an inch, damper leakage will
occur. Possibly you can bend the ears of the metal latches (if it =
has
them) to exert more inward pressure on the action. Sometimes =
shimming the
latches with flat washers will force the action inwards. I've seen =
pianos
where soft felt strips were glued to the front of the dampers =
making them
in effect a thicker damper. Now one has to be sure that the damper =
comes
away from the string fully when the note is played.
</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>Desperate problems call for =
desperate
measures, so you may have to get creative in analyzing the =
problem. If
damping was OK before the tuning, and not now, try to see what may have
changed. It's always better to correct the original problem than =
to try to
fix symptoms. The difficulty is finding the original =
problem.
Often I'd like to have been paid for the time in finding it, not fixing
it. Good Luck, let us know how it finally is =
resolved.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Mike =
Kurta</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=edwithen@oregontrail.net =
href="mailto:edwithen@oregontrail.net">Ed
Carwithen</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, August 03, 2002 =
11:00
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> birdcage....long =
</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">
<P>Subject; Birdcage piano.</P>
<P>Problem 1st, diatribe 2nd, and for those still with me the whole =
story
3rd.</P>
<P>I don’t do many birdcage pianos, fortunately. Today...a =
doozie! After
tuning I could not get the dampers to damp. It is as though the action =
itself
is warped or something. From about F1 to C5 the dampers are not =
contacting the
strings sufficiently to stop the tone either individually or =
collectively. Any
note played sets the entire piano warbling. When I push in on the =
action the
situation is better, but not fixed. There is plenty of play in the =
sustain
pedal so that is not the problem (2 pedals; the other moves a felt =
strip in
front of the hammers). The problem is so severe that even when cutting =
off
sound with finger on the strings the C5 (for instance) tone continues =
to sound
from sympathetic vibrations of other strings, almost as though the =
sustain
pedal were being held down. </P>
<P>C#5 on up seems to work fine. Starting with that note the dampers =
are
smaller, and the wooden stop at the bottom of the damper wire has some =
slack
before contacting the lower action mechanism. I tried adding some =
slack to the
C5 as well, but it didn’t seem to help. </P>
<P>I tried adjusting the wire holding the damper itself toward the =
string, but
that didn’t seem to solve it either. Perhaps it might have =
helped that one
tone, but the rest of the piano sounding sympathetically made it =
appear not to
have helped???? </P>
<P>There is a wood dowel keeping the action from being moved back =
toward the
strings; one on each side. The locking mechanism for the action is in =
good
repair.</P>
<P>HELP. Someone with great knowledge on English Overdamper pianos =
tell me
what I need to do to get those dampers working properly.</P>
<P>2nd. Diatribe:</P>
<P>Nice owner. Recently retired, now wants to learn to play the piano. =
This
piano was sold to him for $600 in Eastern Washington State. It was =
obviously
sold "AS IS." 198 cents flat! A Bird cage piano yet...problems with =
dampers as
noted above...and FILTHY. They couldn’t even bother to take a =
vacuum to it???
Dust underneath the keys was so matted and thick it was like felt. =
Even a 1907
English penny under there. </P>
<P>I know, I know..."Caveat emptor, Let the buyer beware" But still... =
Here is
a man who wants to learn to play the piano. He goes into a music store =
for
help. They sell him a nice looking piece of crap that can’t be =
played! "It
just needs a tuning!" I can see the saleman giggling about how they =
finally
unloaded that white elephant on some unsuspecting rube. Maybe I am =
wrong. If
you are the man in the store in Eastern Oregon who perpetrated this =
mess,
email me and explain how I have misinterpreted it. If this were =
someone
looking for antiques to fix up and sell, or someone interested in it =
as a
curiosity, ok. But someone expecting to come home and start in on John =
Thompson #1??? I don’t think so!</P>
<P>#3 The Whole Story.</P>
<P>The call comes in last week. We establish a day and time, and today =
is it.
60 miles from home. Turn on a secondary road that goes up the =
mountain, then
turns into a dirt road. 6 miles of washboard rattling your eyeteeth, =
and
sending up a dust cloud that could obscure the sun; up the mountain, =
down the
mountain, and a switchback every 200 ft. What is amazing is that there =
were
MANSIONS out there. 3 or 4 of them. The clients house didn’t =
appear to be much
from the outside; manufactured home on the absolute top of the =
mountain with a
chain link fence to keep out the deer. Inside is very nice, but what =
makes it
special is that he has put the house on top of bluff and made a second =
story
below the house. Very impressive. And he built it all himself bit by =
bit as he
could pay for it, so that now it is free and clear. Anyway, that is =
the
locale.</P>
<P>The piano is beautiful. The outside has been well cared for. =
Everything
actually works, the keys all make sound, the pedals actually work. But =
198
Cents flat. Are you remembering that this is an overdamper? Its bad =
enough to
do that big a pitch raise on a normal one, but on an overdamper it is =
a long
day. I got a lot of practice taking birdcage action in and out. and =
got it up
to only -25 cents, and only broke 1 string (which I replaced..ok?) =
Then the
damper problem manifested itself. Couldn’t solve it, so came =
home to ask for
help from all of you. </P>
<P>Incidentally it is a Rintoul B. Not listed in my Pearce. Anybody =
know
anything? No serial number that I could find.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Ed Carwithen</P>
<P>John Day, OR</P>
<P>Yes, I am member of PTG...associate. </P>
<P>Yes, I go to meetings. </P>
<P>Yes, I have looked for information in the Reblitz and in my Potter =
course
manual.</P>
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