<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>I'll interspese my comments with your post below - look for = **</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> Wednesday, November 22, = 2000 9:36 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Jasper American = Piano</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2>In a message dated 11/22/00 8:04:44 AM = Central Standard Time, <BR><A href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A> = (Farrell) <BR>writes: <BR><BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px" TYPE="CITE">> "Instead of the high flight tune-offs between = Coleman & Smith, the <BR>> ultimate PTG challenge might have been having a = couple of our <BR>> superstars each uncrate one of those puppies, and = after a frenzy of <BR>> string seating and hammer needling, see what they = could turn them <BR>> into." <BR><BR>Now that is an interesting = thought. Give 'em maybe four to eight hours - <BR>anything goes - and see what = they can do. I'll bet a GREAT EDUCATIONAL <BR>DIVIDEND would result. Are you = reading this Dale Probst??? Who is running <BR>the show in Reno this year??? = Are you reading this??? Is this an idea or <BR>what? Anything to increase = the tolerability of some of these offensive <BR>little critters. <BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR>Frankly, Terry, I don't see this happening.  As someone = who deals with this <BR>kind of piano, fine grands and everything in = between, I can tell you that you <BR>learn to look at the piano and the = expectations of the customer as individual <BR>cases.  The old saying, "You can't = make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" <BR>comes to mind.  The lady = thought it sounded pretty good as it was and <BR>speaking pragmatically from = experience, that already counts for a lot. <BR><BR>Doing what you and the other = writer suggest, tearing the piano apart, seating <BR>strings, replacing = materials, etc., would only end up making you, the <BR>technician look like some = kind of con artist who would try to "sell ice to <BR>Eskimos".  If this = piano had not been tuned in years but the customer is not <BR>concerned about = pitch, why try to *force* that issue?  If she agrees that it <BR>sounds = "tinny" and it is obvious that the hammers were overly hardened, why <BR>not just = squirt a little alcohol on them or use Roger Jolly's steam method? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>** No one said anything about rebuilding the lady's 5 year old = Kimball. The post regarded a free-floating thought for a convention class. = Nothing more than a whim at this point. Often some of the best learning = experiences are those that take us to a realm that we might otherwise not ever go = to (And BTW, the hammers were so deeply grooved, that I would not want to = steam them - I would be afraid that the first time they hit the string, they would stick!)<BR><BR>Now, I might do things like vacuum out dirt, lube, = tighten screws, adjust <BR>lost motion, let-off, key level and dip, file and = basically voice hammers on <BR>a piano like this when the time comes and the = customer agrees.  But in this <BR>case, it is a newer instrument which was = obviously purchased more as a piece <BR>of furniture than as a musical = instrument.  It would be best to simply tune <BR>while perhaps = raising the pitch a small but comfortable amount and use a <BR>quick and easy = voicing technique that would soften the overly hard hammers. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>** I stated in my post that the daughter plays the piano and she = has been taking classical piano lesson from a very prominent local teacher for = six years. In my opinion she needs the piano well tuned at A=440. = Anything less would not be doing my job, IMHO.<BR><BR>If the tuning pins are tight, = take that as a positive thing, not negative.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>** I did not comment on that.</DIV> <DIV><BR>The back structure of these kinds of pianos is a solid as a = rock.  You can <BR>count on at least that part of it to hold up for a = lifetime.  Use the kind of <BR>tuning hammer and/or technique that will = allow you to move those pins.  Don't <BR>worry about false beats if there = are any, the customer can't distinguish such <BR>fine points.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>** The daughter was complaining that her piano does not sound = like her teachers. I think she may be able to distinguish such fine = points.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Don't badmouth the piano in any way.  Tell her it "looks = nice" <BR>in her living room and "sounds pretty good" when you are finished = tuning, *in <BR>the usual amount of time and for the usual fee*. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>** I did, but it took a lot of lip biting to not tell her to get = her daughter a real piano for playing Chopin & = Beethoven.<BR><BR>Lastly, do you think I would *insist* on tuning in ET for all of the reasons = <BR>people give?  Never, never, never.  The beauty of knowing a variety = of HT's <BR>or creating a unique temperament as I have with the EBVT is that = you really <BR>can make such a piano sound ever so much sweeter to the = people who own it. <BR><BR>Time and again in my career, I have done the simple, practical, useful and <BR>appropriate things to service the small, = common piano and have built a loyal <BR>and contented clientele while others = who "only do Steinways" and who have <BR>proposed "rebuilding" an = instrument which is essentially new have been <BR>labeled as crooks and gone out of = business.  If there is to be a Convention <BR>program about how to handle a = piano like this, it should be about how to do <BR>the basic and practical = things easily and efficiently, not on applying the <BR>techniques used on = fine, expensive instruments where they will do little or <BR>no good. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>** Again, go beyond the normal to see what happens. I'm not even seriously pushing for a class in maxing-out a Kimball console. It just = sounded like an idea with some potential benefits, so I said so.<BR><BR>Bill = Bremmer RPT <BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>