Pianotech

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

CA glue is the way to go. If there're some outliers that don't respond well enough you can tap them in and as Paul said, you can add more CA glue later. The viscosity of the glue can be debated. I use just a regular viscosity and have had fine results, but many people recommend a thin or ultra-thin viscosity. I've never had any leak through the pin-block, but if you do use a thin viscosity I'd recommend removing the action, just in case.🙄

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

Thank you all, I went ahead and quoted the job. I have done it a number of times before, my normal procedure is doing a pitch correction followed by the treatment, and then a fine-tuning after the pins have set for 45 minutes or so. Would you add anything to this procedure?

CA glue is the way to go. If there're some outliers that don't respond well enough you can tap them in and as Paul said, you can add more CA glue later. The viscosity of the glue can be debated. I use just a regular viscosity and have had fine results, but many people recommend a thin or ultra-thin viscosity. I've never had any leak through the pin-block, but if you do use a thin viscosity I'd recommend removing the action, just in case.🙄

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

Just out of curiosity, since you already know that you have a substandard tuning pin torque situation, why not apply the CA glue before the pitch correction, and proceed to tune right away?

Thank you all, I went ahead and quoted the job. I have done it a number of times before, my normal procedure is doing a pitch correction followed by the treatment, and then a fine-tuning after the pins have set for 45 minutes or so. Would you add anything to this procedure?

CA glue is the way to go. If there're some outliers that don't respond well enough you can tap them in and as Paul said, you can add more CA glue later. The viscosity of the glue can be debated. I use just a regular viscosity and have had fine results, but many people recommend a thin or ultra-thin viscosity. I've never had any leak through the pin-block, but if you do use a thin viscosity I'd recommend removing the action, just in case.🙄

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

I was under the impression (can't remember where I heard this) that you want the tuning pins a little bit closer to their ideal position before adding CA. Is this incorrect? 

Just out of curiosity, since you already know that you have a substandard tuning pin torque situation, why not apply the CA glue before the pitch correction, and proceed to tune right away?

Thank you all, I went ahead and quoted the job. I have done it a number of times before, my normal procedure is doing a pitch correction followed by the treatment, and then a fine-tuning after the pins have set for 45 minutes or so. Would you add anything to this procedure?

CA glue is the way to go. If there're some outliers that don't respond well enough you can tap them in and as Paul said, you can add more CA glue later. The viscosity of the glue can be debated. I use just a regular viscosity and have had fine results, but many people recommend a thin or ultra-thin viscosity. I've never had any leak through the pin-block, but if you do use a thin viscosity I'd recommend removing the action, just in case.🙄

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts

Remember that if the top seals up, it is still possible and effective to treat from the bottom side. If not possible, I've had luck drilling through the tuning pin bushings of a previously botched job to get fresh glue down to the pinblock. 

Ron Koval

Hi all,

A Yamaha GH1 from the 90's in my care is no longer able to hold pitch. Pins torque at 30-40 inch pounds. Otherwise, it is in very good shape. The client is asking about a tuning pin treatment. I'm inclined to go the CA route, but is there merit in tapping all the pins in this case? My feeling is that if I tap, we'll have a fix for a few years and be back to needing to treat again anyway. Thoughts