Discussion Posts

I want to share a comment one of my chapter members said at lunch the other day. On the last day of convention, all 7 of the Central Florida chapter in attendance at the convention met for lunch. I asked each one of them what class they enjoyed the most ...

If you have the Steinway Tech Ref you can easily make one out of maple. I believe that the recommended angle is 72 degrees. May want to check with WNG though. ------------------------------ Parker Leigh RPT Winchester VA (540) 722-3865 ---------- ...

Hi John, This is part number 007940 (Pedal Pivot Rod Teflon Bushing) from the Steinway parts department. They are sold individually. Usually a good idea to also order part number 007286 at the same time (Pedal Pivot Rod Leather Disks) These are ...

Hi Melanie and all! Many thanks I've got an iron with variable temperature. I just hope I haven't softened them too much and thanks too for the explanation of needle voicing not having been done on installation. The Abel hammers on the Hammerwood ...

Hello, I need to drill holes for new WNG backchecks. This is my first time using these and I do not have the WNG backcheck angle block (see photo below). Can anyone tell me the angle of the jig so that I can make a block with the proper angle for drilling ...

Hi, John, As I tend to buy these a dozen or so at a time; and haven’t ordered any for a while, I don’t know what their current supply is like. That said, and only FWIW, I have found that it’s often much easier to use those bushings if one also replaces ...

Does anyone have a source for Steinway type pedal pin sleaves. Cloth bushings just don't last as long as the nylon type material. My experience of trying to order them from Steinway was a bit fraught. ------------------------------ John Pope University ...

As to the original post, I think Peter probably nailed it. Those symtoms really sound like a ceiling fan. ------------------------------ John Pope University of Kentucky School of Music Lexington, KY ------------------------------

Hi David, Hi David, I have attached Brooks LTD's "Working with Hammers" - with tips and techniques to voice the Abel Hammers, in collaboration with Wally Brooks and Boaz Kirschenbaum. Any specific questions, pleas feel free to call us at ...

Last week I tuned a horrid Yamaha C5 - collapsed board produced very strange harmonics. Board was 4mm below zero db at duplex! ------------------------------ Parker Leigh RPT Winchester VA (540) 722-3865 ------------------------------

Hi David, Abel hammers can are sometimes very bright when first installed. If the low shoulders were never needled, releasing that lower shoulder tension can bring it closer to the top. This may or may not give you the desired brilliance, but I think ...

Makes sense Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

Removing the shorter "leg" of a "pelican" spring can work mounted on the keybed rear edge if not the belly rail. A lever & vice readily adjusts the bend need be.

Any fabricator or blacksmith should be able to duplicate this for ca $200. Heating will enable the bend. Should outlast the piano. ------------------------------ Parker Leigh RPT Winchester VA (540) 722-3865 ------------------------------

Remember to use a rheostat to control the temp of the iron, so you don't burn the surface of the hammers. AMHIK.... ------------------------------ Clark A Sprague, RPT [csprague4@gmail.com]Clark ------------------------------

Dear All THANK YOU to all for thoughts and nice to know that Protek as a genuine mistake, if it happened, wasn't the culprit, but a lack of judgement on the softening. The latter wasn't entirely surprising as the hammers, horribly hard, and the strings ...

David P., do you have a piano hammer ironing tool? It's the curved brass piece, as wide as a piano hammer with the end that attaches to an electric soldering iron. This works much better than a clothing iron, as you can add pressure as you burnish ...

It's more likely that the alcohol treatment just brought the hammers down too much, that can be a fairly aggressive move depending on the strength of the application. Water will cause the felt to expand at the crown and soften it pretty quickly. I've ...

If you've got some extra or junk hammers lying around, I suggest you try applying protek CLP to them and see what happens. My guess is that it will evaporate too quickly to actually cause any significant tonal change, similar to if you'd used pure alcohol ...

A little while ago I had a pig's ear of an instrument which send me into apoplexy and a simple tuning job turned into something else. The instrument had foul strings which didn't render, inharmonics beyond description, probably a lost crown, and two ...

I'm a piano tuner in Italy, and over the past several months I've built a small ear-training tool for myself, mostly because I wanted a way to practice historical temperaments without needing a piano free every time. It's a desktop app (currently macOS, ...

I don't disagree, but between procurement of the parts, testing and adjusting the system, the time to accomplish it can get out of hand. I try to avoid jobs of unknown duration unless I estimate really high and then charge less if warranted. When I commit ...

Paul, I agree with Ed. A simple re-engineering might be to use a hardware store hinge and to place a coil or leaf spring somewhere to add the necessary resistance and return force. ------------------------------ Blaine Hebert RPT Duarte CA (626) ...

Thanks, Steve. That's helpful. Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

I would imagine that a metal shop could make one in less than an hour. ------------------------------ Steven Rosenthal RPT Honolulu HI (808) 521-7129 ------------------------------

I figured that was the idea of the design, and designing a workable alternative is possible. But how much time is it going to take and how much am I going to charge for it? At my usual hourly rate, I can't imagine it being less than $1500. I suppose it's ...

Thanks!

The unusual spring was designed to facilitate quick installation in the factory. If you forget about the broken spring and just think of the necessary movement of the lever to operate the system, it should be fairly easy to design a workable replacement ...

Yes, I guess that would make the most sense, although it's going to be hard to determine the correct angle of the broken part and the replication of the material, and I don't know how critical that will be. I'm expecting to have to bend it to a certain ...

Anyone have any opinions on the Pano Tuner app ? It nicely shows how many cents +/- a pitch is off, up to about +/- 40 cents that's easy to read. Helpful when tuning a 10 Tone Equal Temperament Scale.

I seriously doubt that any weld would last more than one use. Take it to any good metal shop and have them make you a replacement. ------------------------------ Blaine Hebert RPT Duarte CA (626) 390-0512 ------------------------------

Ms. Bernhardt, if you don't have any luck with parts@steinway.com maybe try adiamond @steinway.com ------------------------------ Karl Roeder Pompano Beach FL ------------------------------

Looking for a room for wed-sun Feel free to contact me 5166373556 ------------------------------ Mark Aaron Sechter Glen Cove NY (516) 637-3556 ------------------------------

Thanks, Larry. That's the first thing I checked, and unfortunately it's a completely different design. With the customer's authorization, I may just weld it and see if it can be bent to fit. Paul Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

Is there a similar sostenuto lever that you could replace it with? ------------------------------ Larry Messerly, RPT Bringing Harmony to Homes www.lacrossepianotuning.com ljmesserly@gmail.com 928-899-7292 ------------------------------

I guess I'm not explaining this well. The part is both a lever and a spring. It fastens to the belly rail on the back (vertical) surface of the rail. At the bottom of the belly rail, it makes a more or less 90 degree turn back under the rail and toward ...

I've used a modified #593 Schaaf trap spring.

I guess I'm not explaining this well. The part is both a lever and a spring. It fastens to the belly rail on the back (vertical) surface of the rail. At the bottom of the belly rail, it makes a more or less 90 degree turn back under the rail and toward ...

Paul A good welding shop will know exactly what to do to get the right tension on the spring.

Suppose you replaced this with an ordinary L bracket screwed in place with rubber washers behind and below the bracket. Would you be able to induce enough flex to make it work? ------------------------------ Ed Sutton ed440@me.com (980) 254-7413 ...

Yeah in that case I'd err on the side of something flexible (spring steel, maybe thinner than the original), so that the angle isn't so critical. And then just add a leaf spring somewhere if it's too floppy?

Thanks, Nathan. The curve in the steel is not the issue. The problem is that the broken piece is broken at the place where it forms a tight almost 90-degree angle, and if it's welded at an angle that's only slightly different from what it originally was, ...

I've not found trapwork tension to be all that critical. Ex. I've removed the return spring for customers who found the pedal too heavy, and everything still worked fine. I've also replaced broken springs, but asked the customer if the pedal worked ...

My concern is that it has to end up with just the right tension to act as a spring for the sustain lever. I can't imagine that it would be possible to even determine the correct amount. Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

I'd bring it to a machine shop or welding shop and ask them to duplicate it. I don't think it would be terribly difficult for them.

This is from a small 1966 Wurlitzer grand #942320. The broken piece in my hand was attached to the back of the belly rail, and broke off at the point you see next to it, which was where it tried to do an almost 90 degree turn to go under the rail. It ...

I have wapined several pianos at the University of Kentucky and have never noticed any strange beating. There is some enhanced sustain but nothing I would want to get rid of. I did also do an experiment with something like bridge agraffes (I called them ...

Mr Leigh, I think perhaps you are confusing the model L with another piano. The model L combined the last of Henry Ziegler's scales for the model O with the heavier plate and wider tail of the model A. ------------------------------ Karl Roeder Pompano ...

The only manufacturer that I was aware of who actively advocated side voicing was Ari Isaac. His website, (which displays as 'not secure' for transactions) is http://isaacpiano.com/ " To increase the piano hammer flexing, the felt between the molding ...

Probably because it's not a common practice. Some manufacturers do (or did) advocate side needling but it depends on what you're after and what part of the hammer you are trying to change. Typically, side needling is done at minimal depth from the outer ...