The owner is very gentle - very respectful of the piano and I don't think there are any kids around. So I'm suspicious of a manufacturing problem with the plastic keytops. Perhaps an issue that left defects in the plastic or caused it to be too brittle.
Pearl River denys any knowledge of similar problems, but they did provide a set of matching replacement tops that I'll be putting on this weekend.
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Rob Mitchell, RPT
San Francisco CA
415-994-1030
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2018 18:47
From: Ruth Zhou
Subject: Keytop Damage
Had a customer with that. Turns out the previous tuner lovers to put his tools and stuff on the keys. Hard metal vs plastic.
side note, how do you guys go around fixing it. I've been using the arcrlikey stuff from pianotek plus some good dremel polishing. It's not great but gets the job done.
Original Message:
Sent: 06-28-2018 11:54
From: Rob Mitchell
Subject: Keytop Damage
Wondering if anyone has seen this type of damage to plastic keytops before? I think I've seen it once before on an older piano and didn't think much of it. However, this is a newer Ritmuller grand (a 4 year old GH170). The problem is only on keys in the midrange E3 to B5. The problem is gouges in the plastic and is only present on the "tail" section of the keys, not on the "head". If it was something particular to the owner, I think I'd expect to see the problem over the entire keytop (he assures me he keeps his fingernails well trimmed). Any thoughts on this? Thanks.
Rob
Registered Piano Technician
Mitchell Piano Service
www.mitchellpianoservice.com
(415) 994-1030