Pianotech

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Hi Scott

Ah, yes, the La Petit grand.  Not exactly one of Kimball's best products.

Regarding the keys.  I would look for bugs under the keys.  I would suspect they have been eating the balance rail punchings.

As far as the fall board clamps. Go to Lowe's and see if you can find a clamp similar to what's on there now.  You might also give Jim Geiger a call.  He got a lot of Kimball spare parts. Maybe he's got one of those brackets.  

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Wim,

Bugs seem unlikely to me. For one thing, the entire keyboard is low, but level, and the dip is about right. There's no evidence the original owner had anything done, ever. I suppose a tech could have done a quick fix by lowering unaffected keys, then removing front punchings to get better dip...

What do you mean by "bracket"?

Hi Scott

Ah, yes, the La Petit grand.  Not exactly one of Kimball's best products.

Regarding the keys.  I would look for bugs under the keys.  I would suspect they have been eating the balance rail punchings.

As far as the fall board clamps. Go to Lowe's and see if you can find a clamp similar to what's on there now.  You might also give Jim Geiger a call.  He got a lot of Kimball spare parts. Maybe he's got one of those brackets.  

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Wim,

Bugs seem unlikely to me. For one thing, the entire keyboard is low, but level, and the dip is about right. There's no evidence the original owner had anything done, ever. I suppose a tech could have done a quick fix by lowering unaffected keys, then removing front punchings to get better dip...

What do you mean by "bracket"?

Hi Scott

Ah, yes, the La Petit grand.  Not exactly one of Kimball's best products.

Regarding the keys.  I would look for bugs under the keys.  I would suspect they have been eating the balance rail punchings.

As far as the fall board clamps. Go to Lowe's and see if you can find a clamp similar to what's on there now.  You might also give Jim Geiger a call.  He got a lot of Kimball spare parts. Maybe he's got one of those brackets.  

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

 As Wim suggested, give Jim Geiger a phone call. I believe Larry Messerly has written in the past that he found those fallboard catches at a major big box (Lowes, Home Depot) store.

Wim,

Bugs seem unlikely to me. For one thing, the entire keyboard is low, but level, and the dip is about right. There's no evidence the original owner had anything done, ever. I suppose a tech could have done a quick fix by lowering unaffected keys, then removing front punchings to get better dip...

What do you mean by "bracket"?

Hi Scott

Ah, yes, the La Petit grand.  Not exactly one of Kimball's best products.

Regarding the keys.  I would look for bugs under the keys.  I would suspect they have been eating the balance rail punchings.

As far as the fall board clamps. Go to Lowe's and see if you can find a clamp similar to what's on there now.  You might also give Jim Geiger a call.  He got a lot of Kimball spare parts. Maybe he's got one of those brackets.  

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Scott wrote:

"So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?"

Yes.

Alan

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

I have seen a few of these pso's one in my own community . I think one i in a church where the poor ac system is killing it and the 3rd is in the local high school donated as usual. A 4th Le Petit is in a community north of me and is the owners pride and joy.  I would leave it alone and just fix stuck notes, maybe lube action centers, maybe tighten action screws but beyond that you are opening a can of worms that will turn into snakes. I think you can get one of those ball and spring kluges from a woodworking place like Rockler or Woodcraft maybe Jim Geiger has a stash. One way to secure the fallboard is get a plastic wedge at home depot and jam it in between the side of the fallboard and case.you can break it off on a score line or leave it in. If they ever have a bonfire like they did for square pianos the petit should be added to the pile. The other option is to donate them to MIT to be used for the annual piano drop (check Youtube to see one)

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Shortly after the La Petite came out, a Gospel church bought one for their sanctuary, which seated about 250 people. They litterally tore the action apart within 6 months. The jacks and vertical wippens just couldn't withstand the hard playing.  I really felt sorry for them. They paid, for them, a lot of money for the piano. The salesman adviced them that the piano will be just fine for them. 

------------------------------
Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 12:02
From: James Kelly
Subject: Two Kimball issues

I have seen a few of these pso's one in my own community . I think one i in a church where the poor ac system is killing it and the 3rd is in the local high school donated as usual. A 4th Le Petit is in a community north of me and is the owners pride and joy.  I would leave it alone and just fix stuck notes, maybe lube action centers, maybe tighten action screws but beyond that you are opening a can of worms that will turn into snakes. I think you can get one of those ball and spring kluges from a woodworking place like Rockler or Woodcraft maybe Jim Geiger has a stash. One way to secure the fallboard is get a plastic wedge at home depot and jam it in between the side of the fallboard and case.you can break it off on a score line or leave it in. If they ever have a bonfire like they did for square pianos the petit should be added to the pile. The other option is to donate them to MIT to be used for the annual piano drop (check Youtube to see one)

------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
843-325-4357

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 10:58
From: Larry Fisher
Subject: Two Kimball issues

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

But wait...

Kimball managed to do something amazing with these lovelies...they created a piano whose tone was absolutely inert. That's an amazing contribution. I have no Idea how I would achieve this, if someone asked me to design a piano that sounded that way. It not that is was harsh, or explosive...it was none of those. It was inert, there was nothing there...usually horrible pianos can at least make you cringe, but no. The only way I can describe the tone to to imagine the utterly empty facial expression a cow has when chewing cud...no thought is evident. The tone elicited absolutely no elicitations (I think I just made that up).  I've never experienced a sound that bland before...and amazing achievement, I'd say!   Kind of like piano flavored Cheese-wiz.

------------------------------
Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 14:23
From: Willem Blees
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Shortly after the La Petite came out, a Gospel church bought one for their sanctuary, which seated about 250 people. They litterally tore the action apart within 6 months. The jacks and vertical wippens just couldn't withstand the hard playing.  I really felt sorry for them. They paid, for them, a lot of money for the piano. The salesman adviced them that the piano will be just fine for them. 

------------------------------
Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 12:02
From: James Kelly
Subject: Two Kimball issues

I have seen a few of these pso's one in my own community . I think one i in a church where the poor ac system is killing it and the 3rd is in the local high school donated as usual. A 4th Le Petit is in a community north of me and is the owners pride and joy.  I would leave it alone and just fix stuck notes, maybe lube action centers, maybe tighten action screws but beyond that you are opening a can of worms that will turn into snakes. I think you can get one of those ball and spring kluges from a woodworking place like Rockler or Woodcraft maybe Jim Geiger has a stash. One way to secure the fallboard is get a plastic wedge at home depot and jam it in between the side of the fallboard and case.you can break it off on a score line or leave it in. If they ever have a bonfire like they did for square pianos the petit should be added to the pile. The other option is to donate them to MIT to be used for the annual piano drop (check Youtube to see one)

------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
843-325-4357

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 10:58
From: Larry Fisher
Subject: Two Kimball issues

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

But wait...

Kimball managed to do something amazing with these lovelies...they created a piano whose tone was absolutely inert. That's an amazing contribution. I have no Idea how I would achieve this, if someone asked me to design a piano that sounded that way. It not that is was harsh, or explosive...it was none of those. It was inert, there was nothing there...usually horrible pianos can at least make you cringe, but no. The only way I can describe the tone to to imagine the utterly empty facial expression a cow has when chewing cud...no thought is evident. The tone elicited absolutely no elicitations (I think I just made that up).  I've never experienced a sound that bland before...and amazing achievement, I'd say!   Kind of like piano flavored Cheese-wiz.

------------------------------
Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 14:23
From: Willem Blees
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Shortly after the La Petite came out, a Gospel church bought one for their sanctuary, which seated about 250 people. They litterally tore the action apart within 6 months. The jacks and vertical wippens just couldn't withstand the hard playing.  I really felt sorry for them. They paid, for them, a lot of money for the piano. The salesman adviced them that the piano will be just fine for them. 

------------------------------
Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
Mililani, HI 96789

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 12:02
From: James Kelly
Subject: Two Kimball issues

I have seen a few of these pso's one in my own community . I think one i in a church where the poor ac system is killing it and the 3rd is in the local high school donated as usual. A 4th Le Petit is in a community north of me and is the owners pride and joy.  I would leave it alone and just fix stuck notes, maybe lube action centers, maybe tighten action screws but beyond that you are opening a can of worms that will turn into snakes. I think you can get one of those ball and spring kluges from a woodworking place like Rockler or Woodcraft maybe Jim Geiger has a stash. One way to secure the fallboard is get a plastic wedge at home depot and jam it in between the side of the fallboard and case.you can break it off on a score line or leave it in. If they ever have a bonfire like they did for square pianos the petit should be added to the pile. The other option is to donate them to MIT to be used for the annual piano drop (check Youtube to see one)

------------------------------
James Kelly
Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
Pawleys Island SC
843-325-4357

Original Message:
Sent: 12-20-2020 10:58
From: Larry Fisher
Subject: Two Kimball issues

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Kimball published a wonderful "troubleshooting" manual. 85 pages of tips for correcting loose soundboards, incorrectly notched bridges and irregular bass v-bar pins. A pretty good introduction to basic repairs. They must have known what they were writing about! 

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Kimball published a wonderful "troubleshooting" manual. 85 pages of tips for correcting loose soundboards, incorrectly notched bridges and irregular bass v-bar pins. A pretty good introduction to basic repairs. They must have known what they were writing about! 

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------

Thanks for all the interesting responses everyone. This particular piano had the worst tone of any grand I've every tuned. The whole piano was so flimsy it kind of swayed while I tuned it. Not so bad to tune though-at least the strings rendered well.

You can still find them for sale, up to $4000. One ad said "Built to last during Kimball's golden age of piano-making."

Kimball published a wonderful "troubleshooting" manual. 85 pages of tips for correcting loose soundboards, incorrectly notched bridges and irregular bass v-bar pins. A pretty good introduction to basic repairs. They must have known what they were writing about! 

High Scott,

The LaPetite, as others have indicated, was the best example of what not to do to create more piano sales.  It sucked.  Design challenges were overcome by just enough to get it out the door and onto the sales floor.  From there the dealer had to deal with it.

The action was abbreviated (fewer parts and original in design) and the rest of the piano was barely capable.

Personally, I'd leave the regulation the way it is.  IF it plays, it's good enough.  Tuning?  Shya right.  Get it close and realize the piano's acoustic properties are minimal.  Typically, owners of these quality level of pianos don't get them tuned anywhere often enough and so the first tuning won't sound as good as you'd like it to. 

As for the fall board, of all the LaPetite's I've seen, most people just simply tape the fall board open.  One owner made a U shaped device to hold it open spanning the front lip of the fall to the inside edge of the stretcher.at the bass end.

As technicians we're geared, or programed to fix what's there, with a minimal and hopefully invisible or visibly pleasing repair.  If you can find a replacement piece at the hardware store, as others have mentioned, GREAT.  Otherwise consider modifying what's there to make it work.  Increased spring tension and a more pronounced cup (in the fall board) or indentation comes to mind. 

Lastly, if this is your first LaPetite, I'm so sorry.  I would hope everyone on this list would go through their career with out ever having to experience one of these.  Next year will be 50 years for me.  I've seen three of them.  I'd imagine they'd burn well at a BBQ ..... but stand upwind of it.

Lar

------------------------------
Larry Fisher
Owner, Chief Grunt, Head Hosehead
Vancouver WA
503-310-6965
Working the gravy zone for the rest of my days.

Original Message:
Sent: 12-19-2020 12:35
From: Scott Cole
Subject: Two Kimball issues

Holiday Greetings,

I recently serviced a very tiny Kimball grand from 1969, sitting in the middle of a pot-growing warehouse. It's likely their smallest model (Kimball that is, not the pot operation) with two interesting problems.

The first is that the key height is so obviously low, and from the yellowish shading has been that way a very long time. However, it works and there's aftertouch. It's not as if the key height, which is uniform, fell over time. At least not much. Dip is ok. According to the new owner (unfortunately, he purchased without inspection or advice--he called me to both tune and inspect after buying it...), the previous original owner, who had all the paperwork, had never had anything done to it except maybe a couple of tunings. So it's not as if a technician came along, lowered the keyboard for some strange reason, and made it work. Seems to be about 1/8" low. So the first question: could Kimball have allowed a piano in this shape to leave the factory? Was their QC really that bad?

Question  #2 concerns their pretty lousy fallboard design on this model. Hopefully someone has had to deal with something similar. The new owner is complaining that the fall board doesn't stay up, and it's easy to see why. When in the open position, a small spring-loaded button on each side is supposed to engage with, and put pressure on, a recessed plastic or rubber insert sitting in a round depression in the fallboard. However, the plastic/rubber (whatever it used to be) is deformed enough by now to not allow the spring-loaded buttons to put enough pressure to hold it up. Any fix for this? My first thought is to glue a round piece of buckskin in on top of the preexisting plastic part, but I'm not sure that will work. If I dig out the inserts, what can I replace them with? It's obviously annoying to have a fallboard that falls when it's not supposed to, yet I'm wondering if it can really be improved. At this point I'm thinking nail or epoxy the thing open? Then we'd all be happy.

Whether or not I really want to deal with this piano any more is another question (for many reasons), but it would be nice to have a fix for similar pianos in the future. I suppose I could recommend a regulation, but the thought of spending hours crouching on a cold warehouse floor isn't too appealing. 

Ultimately, the owner wants to adorn his vacation cabin with it (when he makes a killing selling pot, which seems very unlikely at this point), so if it goes "plunk" when it's played that's going to be enough for me at this point.

------------------------------
Scott Cole, RPT
rvpianotuner.com
Talent, OR
(541-601-9033
------------------------------