Discussion Posts

Does anybody know a good polyester touchup person near Daytona Beach, Florida? Asking for a friend ------------------------------ Karl Roeder Pompano Beach FL ------------------------------

Tom, With regard to grand action transport in smaller vehicles, I have a solution that has worked for my previous vehicles (Toyota Camry, Honda Accord) and my current one (Toyota Prius, my first hybrid which, after eight years and counting, I have no ...

Raising the balance rail and adjusting the capstans will put the balance rail pin back into the center of its wear spot. As the keys settle, the key moves to a spot that tightens up when the key tries to return fully. This is like the divot on the wippen ...

Lots of useful information. Still think there should be a protocol for this. How do manufacturers measure this? Probably piano is not strung. But that doesn't help when trying to evaluate an older (or failing new) piano. Torque plus 35"/# is probably ...

Lots of useful information. Still think there should be a protocol for this. How do manufacturers measure this? Probably piano is not strung. But that doesn't help when trying to evaluate an older (or failing new) piano. Torque plus 35"/# is probably ...

I had the same issue, have an Apple~ can't see images. ------------------------------ Gina Bonfietti, RPT Connecticut ------------------------------

The fix recommended by Yamaha involves shimming the balance rail (not the hammer rest rail). This will slightly change/increase the angle of the keys, which will address the interaction with the wippen already mentioned, and correct for the keys not being ...

Back to the topic... I have found that working with alternate temperaments also changed how I listened to the piano. Similar to the way my listening changed after first learning to tune. I began experimenting about 10 years after beginning in business. ...

I'm going to support Yamaha's recommendation. Shimming the rest rail a bit is necessary to compensate for unwanted increased blow distance due to the rest rail felt compacting as the piano ages. This is normal. Adjusting the capstans is also necessary ...

Wim, Thanks for the reply, however it is NOT the right pedal, it is the left which rotates the hammer rest rail pushing it forward and in the process creating a gap between the hammer butt and jack. The dampers are fully operational in this action. ...

Neil, Your problem (a bit of a long shot) is that the capstan has developed a concave pocket in the wippen felt. If the angle of attack of the key is incorrect, the capstan slides into an increasing concaved pocket. If the capstan and wippen are not ...

Hello all, I'm looking for parts for WWII-era Steinway Victory Verticals. Currently, I'm looking for whippens, hammer butts, and damper felt that is sewn, untapered in thickness but tapered in length (cut or uncut), but welcome all Victory ...

When said the problem is worse when the right pedal is being used indicates to me the reason the Jack is not getting back under because the back end of the keys are not going down far enough. (With the dampers engaged, the damper levers are actually helping ...

Just so ya'll know, this project is complete and the tubby tonal issue I was complaining about at the outset has been entirely fixed. The bass rescaling helped quite a bit, as well as some Paulello wire on the tenor, however there was still a little ...

I recently was called to investigate what was described as sticking keys on an institutional Yamaha P22 (think heavy student use and abuse). What seems to be the problem is the plastic jack that is used in this piano would get hung up on the buckskin ...

Hi, Fred. Yes, I just looked at them. Thank you for your efforts to dig into this for me. Dave -- Dave Conte, RPT, CCT dave@daveconte.com www.daveconte.com

Dave, Do check out Larry Lobel's articles, Feb and Mar 2020 Journals. They are very informative, and include exactly what you were asking for. Easiest way to access them is the Journal Archive https://my.ptg.org/journal/journal-archive ...

Thank you, Jason. -- Dave Conte, RPT, CCT dave@daveconte.com www.daveconte.com

Tom, If those three cans of TSI 301 are still available, I would gladly take them off your hands. Please let me know how much I owe you for shipping. Thanks, Alan ------------------------------ Alan Eder, RPT Herb Alpert School of Music California ...

While I was at the University of Alabama, we hired a new violin professor who was he was going to give a short recital to the faculty and students at the beginning of the semester. We had 2 D's on the concert stage, each with a slightly different ...

Steven, Hmmm... many tastes, many ears... This whole discussion reminds me of a long ago conversation I had with the late Dr. Albert Sanderson of Accutuner fame. We were both then members of the Boston PTG chapter, and our chapter meeting one month ...

David, That is precisely what I did on my 121. Peter Grey Piano Doctor ------------------------------ Peter Grey Stratham NH (603) 686-2395 pianodoctor57@gmail.com ------------------------------

I tried the TS1 301 and did not getting an improvement whatsoever. I still contend the easiest and fastest way to improve things is the heat gun approach. In 5 mins., all the action centers will be free. I usually get about 6 months to a year before ...

Wim, Very well said. Loyal clients must be made aware of your appreciation by the way you attend to their needs. Sent from my iPad CarlPianoTech.com

Jim, I did a complete action parts replacement on a 1946 Stein L that has severe vertigris. At the time, I was surprised to see it in that manufacture period. ------------------------------ Tremaine Parsons RPT Georgetown CA (530) 333-9299 -------- ...

I have heard it said that the Prius is the most common piano tuner's car. Personally I am a Corolla man myself. A grand action will fit across the back seat, though occasionally I have to rest an action on an arm rest. It does scratch up an interior ...

Scott reads our posts. It's his call. But thanks for the compliment. Wim

Have you submitted this to the Journal? I think more people should read your fine words than participate here on the forum. ------------------------------ Geoff Sykes, RPT Los Angeles CA ------------------------------

Larry Nobel did a pair of articles in February (p 14) and March (p 13) of 2020, seemingly connected with that odd 2016 "Piano Tuning Pin Study" prospectus, which doesn't appear in the Dec 2016 Journal (don't know how it got appended to that PDF of 2016). ...

I found something in the 2016 Journals. In my full-year 2016 this material occurs after the December issue. Perhaps it was an add-on. It's an unusual layout. Here's the cover page: Here's the one page of about 20, the one most relevant to what ...

There's no need to be close to the ocean to develop "cancer". Try getting some TSI 301 and give it a dose, and see what happens. Maybe two shots. I had a case where the shanks and flanges had been replaced like in the 50's or so. By now they had ...

I am on the coast of SC and humidity is a problem most of the year. Depending how close to the ocean the piano may be getting a good dose of humidity as well as some good ole corrosive ocean air. I have had customers leave windows and doors open all day ...

Torque measured in the sharp direction (pulling the string sharp) will vary with the tension of the string, and the same will be true in the flat direction. When restringing, we can set a target torque for the pin without the string attached, but feel ...

I have always considered down torque most important with a reading of 80 inch lb as a minimum. ------------------------------ Parker Leigh RPT Winchester VA (540) 722-3865 ------------------------------

Expect verdigris to develop until the end of cloth bushings, ca. 1960. Regards, Bill Bill Shull, RPT, M.Mus. bdshull@aol.com www.shullpiano.com www.periodpiano.org 909 796-4226 Sent from my iPhone

Les, I use GIMP, a free image manipulation program available for microsoft and macOS. One can open an 'elm' image (and many other kinds) within GIMP, then export it as a different file of your choosing. Here is the download page: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/ ...

In Hawaii it is very common to put a DC under the pin block. The humidity is so high 24?7/265 that the heat has no effect on the pin block, but it helped keep the centers free. I suspect that even with the DC in the action cavity it wasn't enough ...

I tuned a Steinway M yesterday that was manufactured in 1948. The action was very sluggish and upon further inspection I discovered vertigris on all the action centers in the top action. The damper underlevers seemed fine. I thought that the flanges with ...

Hello, all. Reading back through various posts over the years, I notice there seems to be a number of schools of thought about how tuning pin torque should be measured. Averaging clockwise/counterclockwise, with strings, with no strings, etc. ...

I'll be car shopping sometime in the next year and am hoping that my next vehicle can be a much smaller version of what I have. I'm trying to visualize how to duplicate my set up in much smaller quarters. If you are driving a sub-compact car and do ...

Thank you. How do I handle elm images in the future. I have Apple products Les Koltvedt (404) 631-7177 LKPianos.com

Sean (Post #1), permit me a quick observation, not necessarily a remedy: be aware the string spacing within each tri-chord unison on a vintage Chickering is much narrower than on other pianos of the day. The agraffes were drilled with the three string ...

Joe, I've had my share of "brain farts" too! Peter Grey Piano Doctor ------------------------------ Peter Grey Stratham NH (603) 686-2395 pianodoctor57@gmail.com ------------------------------

Looks like I made a big mistake, so I deleted my previous posts. Some of the other comments were deleted as a result, because they were replies to my posts. Sorry about that. So, it turns out I had the boxes of the older wippens mislabeled. I had the ...

Leslie, here is Tom's picture as a .jpg image.

Not sure how to handle this image? Have downloaded it, looks like just a folder to me. Any help is appreciated. ------------------------------ Les Koltvedt Marietta GA lkpianos@gmail.com ------------------------------

Dear Steven It's clear that there are a lot of assumptions. The quality of musicians for whom I tune is apparent in the playing in many of my recordings on video. The Pleyel Chromatic Harp of 1896 with fixed pitch chime-bars to which the instrument ...

The problem here is that we don’t want to acknowledge the modern standard. That standard is represented by that 0.1% you talk about. I know a tuner who used to tune for Alfred Brendel. He also tuned for Vladimir Ashkenazy. I assure you, he did not use ...

I suggested a section for the PTJ: Whats in your tool kit, that could be a regular exploration of individual tech's car, tool kit or shop, but it went nowhere. I still think its a good idea. I designed a parts box for my car trunk that I believe works ...

Yes it's common to address this. First run a razor blade down the center to open up the damper slightly. Insert a piece of kite string or equivalent in the center cut to slightly spread the damper. Trim the felt so that it doesn't protrude below the level ...