Pianotech

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

I would recommend checking the flange fit with a .001 feeler guage as well.  You would be surprised at how many pianos are poorly fit - both new, old and rebuilt.

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

Greetings,

You will most likely find a gap between the pinblock and the plate flange. Not doing that fitting is often by design. More than one piano maker seems to rely on two hundred and thirty some-odd tuning pin plate bushings to perform the same function as fitting the block to the flange. Not than shimming or epoxying the gap won't help. It should.

Let us know what works in this case!

Alan

I would recommend checking the flange fit with a .001 feeler guage as well.  You would be surprised at how many pianos are poorly fit - both new, old and rebuilt.

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

Greetings,

You will most likely find a gap between the pinblock and the plate flange. Not doing that fitting is often by design. More than one piano maker seems to rely on two hundred and thirty some-odd tuning pin plate bushings to perform the same function as fitting the block to the flange. Not than shimming or epoxying the gap won't help. It should.

Let us know what works in this case!

Alan

I would recommend checking the flange fit with a .001 feeler guage as well.  You would be surprised at how many pianos are poorly fit - both new, old and rebuilt.

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

Greetings,

You will most likely find a gap between the pinblock and the plate flange. Not doing that fitting is often by design. More than one piano maker seems to rely on two hundred and thirty some-odd tuning pin plate bushings to perform the same function as fitting the block to the flange. Not than shimming or epoxying the gap won't help. It should.

Let us know what works in this case!

Alan

I would recommend checking the flange fit with a .001 feeler guage as well.  You would be surprised at how many pianos are poorly fit - both new, old and rebuilt.

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

Some years ago I had reason to pull the plate of a Kawai RX-2, checking for water damage.

There was an intentional gap along the front, vertical faces of the plate and block.

At the top inner corner of the plate there was a carefully shaped extra step which fitted neatly into a notch along the corner of the block.

The fit was exquisite. But if someone did the business card diagnostic they would have concluded that the entire front edge of the plate/block fit was gapped.

Greetings,

You will most likely find a gap between the pinblock and the plate flange. Not doing that fitting is often by design. More than one piano maker seems to rely on two hundred and thirty some-odd tuning pin plate bushings to perform the same function as fitting the block to the flange. Not than shimming or epoxying the gap won't help. It should.

Let us know what works in this case!

Alan

I would recommend checking the flange fit with a .001 feeler guage as well.  You would be surprised at how many pianos are poorly fit - both new, old and rebuilt.

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------

Unless I missed it, no one mentioned the plate webbing screws holding the pinblock in place. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

Some years ago I had reason to pull the plate of a Kawai RX-2, checking for water damage.

There was an intentional gap along the front, vertical faces of the plate and block.

At the top inner corner of the plate there was a carefully shaped extra step which fitted neatly into a notch along the corner of the block.

The fit was exquisite. But if someone did the business card diagnostic they would have concluded that the entire front edge of the plate/block fit was gapped.

Greetings,

You will most likely find a gap between the pinblock and the plate flange. Not doing that fitting is often by design. More than one piano maker seems to rely on two hundred and thirty some-odd tuning pin plate bushings to perform the same function as fitting the block to the flange. Not than shimming or epoxying the gap won't help. It should.

Let us know what works in this case!

Alan

I would recommend checking the flange fit with a .001 feeler guage as well.  You would be surprised at how many pianos are poorly fit - both new, old and rebuilt.

(I should have said "tuning instability.")  I tuned a '70s Yamaha G3 the other day. I'd sold the piano, and it had been about 3 years since the owner had it tuned. Anyway, it was not very far off pitch, but the upper tenor section was a dog to tune (the third of the four divisions between the plate struts). The pins seemed tight enough, but every time I raised the pitch in that section, it almost immediately dropped. I re-tuned, and the same thing occurred. The plate and bridges look good, with only a minor SB crack. The pins were not newly-tight, but no different than on the rest of the piano. This occurred only in this one section. Not having my big screwdriver bit, I was unable to tighten the rim screws. However, I'm thinking it must be the tuning pins, but they are not visibly moving when my hammer is in place. I noticed no problems when I had this piano in my shop. Any ideas?

------------------------------
Philip Jamison
West Chester PA
(610) 696-8449
------------------------------