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<DIV><FONT size=2>These were pretty awful pianos from the get-go so =
let's start
with that. As far as something that might actually make a =
difference have
you tried water and alcohol? In extreme cases where the =
hammers are
so hard they resemble tungsten-vanadium spikes you may have to resort to =
wetting
them down with 50/50 water and alcohol. Such a treatment is equal =
to about
150 needle pricks and a whole lot faster. Use a hypo-oiler and =
briefly
soak the shoulders. If need be you can go back and hit the strike =
point as
well. The effects are immediate and won't change after it dries; =
what you
hear is what you get. Be careful not to over do it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Rob Goodale, RPT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Las Vegas, NV</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>List,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I just got back from tuning a friends =
piano which
is an old Lowrey Console (Charles Fredrick Stein). This was my =
third
time tuning it in the past 12 months. It holds the tuning quite =
well,
but the tone is a very ugly, schreeking, bright nasty sound that I can =
hardly
stand while I tune it. She gives piano lessons every week on it =
and I
can't understand how it doesn't drive her nuts. I have tried =
before to
shape, needle, and soften the hammers to even out the tone a bit, but =
nothing
I do seems to bring down the schreekiness. And to add on top of =
this, it
sits on a hardwood floor which makes it echo throughout the
house.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is there an easy/short fix to this =
problem shy of
replacing the hammers that anyone here has found?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dave Foster</FONT></DIV></DIV>
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