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  • 1.  Neupert plectra

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 12-12-2023 11:20

    Anyone have a US source for the old, conical Neupert plectra, or is ordering from them the only option?



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    --Dave


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    New Orleans
    504-263-2923
    dave@nolapianoworks.com
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  • 2.  RE: Neupert plectra

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 12-12-2023 11:53
    Greetings, 
       I have been told that emergency plectra can be made from certain diameters of string trimmer line.  Gotta "roll your own" but if that is all you can find...
    regards, 






  • 3.  RE: Neupert plectra

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 12-12-2023 15:34
    It is conceivable that the Kasimoffs http://www.kasimoffpianoslosangeles.com/ might have some, as they have carried Neuperts for decades.

    Fred Sturm
    University of New Mexico
    fssturm@unm.edu
    Youtube Spotify Deezer Apple Amazon 
    http://fredsturm.net
    "Practice makes permanent. (Only perfect practice makes perfect)."






  • 4.  RE: Neupert plectra

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 2 days ago

    Possibly nylon guitar strings could be the right diameter--G string perhaps?



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    Jonathan Moberg RPT
    Shorewood WI
    (414) 962-2227
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  • 5.  RE: Neupert plectra

    Posted 12-12-2023 17:13

    Dave-What is the diameter? My recollection is that it was cylindrical, like a piece of thick fishing line, then cut to a taper.

    (I have. a rather large selection of deep sea fishing leader....not for fishing.)



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    Ed Sutton
    ed440@me.com
    (980) 254-7413
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  • 6.  RE: Neupert plectra

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 12-12-2023 17:18
    They are mildly tapered





  • 7.  RE: Neupert plectra

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 12-12-2023 18:43
    The hole in the tongue is also tapered. A cylindrical material will not hold well by friction. 

    Someone had me work on a Neupert in which someone had replaced plectra for one register with a stiff cylindrical material. Since they wouldn't hold by friction, an adhesive was used (something on the order of Duco cement). Removing them left a mess of glue, and I discovered that drilling it out either didn't remove all the glue or was going to enlarge the hole, so I had to use a small rat tail file to restore the original taper and to be able to insert original parts plectra. The miserable experience was enough to make this particular item of information indelible in my memory. 

    This is not to say that a more malleable material like fishing leader might not be usable in an emergency situation, but I wouldn't count on it.
    Regards,
    Fred Sturm
    "We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Casteneda