<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Verdana" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Verdana color=#000000 size=3> <DIV> <DIV>Hi Michael,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope you got some sleep...dang those little critters!  A fat bunch= of moths, no doubt!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Keep us posted.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dave Stahl, </DIV> <DIV>Sunny CA</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 3/12/05 2:07:29 AM Pacific Standard Time, michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello List</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I was asked to tune a piano in an old chu= rch (part Saxon, part Regency and part Victorian) in Lewes Sussex. This was Wednesday 9 March. When I looked at this very venerable Bechstein grand (No.2824 - figured walnut case) I found MOTH had got there first. The= reason for tuning was for a piano concerto being performed there on Saturd= ay. New composer at the piano. Dilemma! Dare I take the action out, back to my= workshop, knowing the tremendous liability? Answer Yes! But Thursday I had= tunings and repairs ready for piano exams at a school and an old square pi= ano to tune. Old.. as in 1775 built by Pohlman. Pitch A=393. But that was yo= ung compared to the house it was in.... 1530. Now <EM>that's OLD</EM>. Today I= was committed to tuning seven school pianos. I last tuned them two years ago..= . YUK. So where does the tool fit in? Bechstein action on bench. Dismantle hammer rail complete with hammers. Disconnect all those little stickers Bechstein used to use between the keys and the levers. Many of the felt bu= shes .. GONE! (this job is getting bigger by the moment... bigger liability..) = Find the hammer rest pads on the levers are eaten. Even centre bushings.. eaten= . That regulating button for the jack-top window ... eaten. Then a moth grub= poked its head out and winked at me. I squashed it. They're hard, you know= , quite difficult to squash. Remove the lever rail with all the levers attac= hed and the little sticker dangling from them. Remove keys and get the vacuum going. Where were the balance rail washers? Eaten. Where were the front ra= il thick washers... eaten. The back rail touch felt was but a shadow of its former self...Eaten. Been there? So have I. But the action <EM>must </EM>b= e back and working by 3:00pm tomorrow for rehearsal. Removing the remains of= the touch felt showed the need for something sharp and heavy. So I got a 1 1/2= " cold chisel. Heavy thing. Sharpened it up very nicely on the belt san= der and that old felt and glue came off very quickly indeed. Replace all felts= and find key-touch not deep enough. Dismantle action and try again. Then regul= ate. I have a little (as in 3" long) flat ratchet screw driver for touch regulating in these old Bechsteins. Now the action is finished. Regulated = on the bench from section string heights taken on site and using my home made= bridge. But... what's that I see... poking its little brown head out of a hammer?  Quick! Squash another one.. I really <EM>do </EM>fear for my= stock of felt....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>'Night all</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael G.(UK)</FONT></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>