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pianotechman

Tried that Bill, yes Brooks often put a key manufacturing date under the end keys which gives you a good idea. [That's if it's not in red and faded!] but this one had nothing other than the serial number.

pianotechman

Tried that Bill, yes Brooks often put a key manufacturing date under the end keys which gives you a good idea. [That's if it's not in red and faded!] but this one had nothing other than the serial number.

pianotechman

As I see it you have but two choices, either drill down vertically above the plank ends on both Bass and Treble cheeks, chisel out then replace with a panel, [Bluthner grands have a screw on section above the plank fixing bolts] OR after the frame is removed, cut the ends flush with the cheeks, and ...

pianotechman

And best not forget the outrigged wheels if it's going into a school eh?

pianotechman

Spot on Barrie, Roger Wilson[the CEO] at the time was all for it, and it was a disaster, leading to the total collapse of the company in about 2002. Fortunately I'd long gone by the end.

pianotechman

I presume they're going to put on a new bridge capping rather than trying to glue up the split in the old one btw?

pianotechman

I've not had one 'duff' string from Parkes as yet. I gave up using another string maker as there started to be too many 'mistakes'. Obviously I'm not going to put who on here, suffice as to say it wasn't Barney.

pianotechman

I tuned an intriguing upright upright once, Royal blue case, Red sharpes/ white keys. I was informed it was a limited edition piano, [Alison I think] that had been made at the time of the coronation of George V !

pianotechman

I feel these posts have all been very informative, so I would also like to put in my own 'two penneth worth'. Steinway usually started their initial stringing on a 3/0 diameter tuning pin. If you had it re-built in 97, they would then have to have used a 4/oversize pin, if they jumped up a couple mo...

pianotechman

You say it's a concert grand, are the strings the first couple of tri-chord notes on the Bass bridge by any chance?

pianotechman

I did a rebuild on a C.Goetze grand a few years ago including the fitting of a new laminated plank. Of special interest because the client had said it had once belonged to a music hall star who's biggest hits were 'Waiting at the church' and 'Daddy Wouldn't buy me a Bow Wow'...It was of course Vesta...

pianotechman

Hello folks and fellow technicians, the forum seems to have let me in after struggling to get on with my login for a year or two! Hurray. Today I tuned a Zender with the serial number 64326 [stamped on the soundboard behind the bottom door panel] I estimated the manufacture at about 1973, so anyone ...

pianotechman

Yeah, check the frame webs for vertical fractures near the tuning pins as Barrie says, you get a good one and they're a great model.

pianotechman

Too true Barrie, I had to do an entire regulation on one sold from a 'prestigious' shop in Knightsbridge some years ago. In years gone by,[ before my time] they would have had their own Technician come out to the customer to sort it out, or more to the point, it would not have left the shop in that ...

pianotechman

I am hearing "fit a new tuning plank here " but if you wanted to save the expense of paying for a tuner, I don't expect you will want to have this job done. Only real way to rectify the problem. sorry

pianotechman

Onto soundboards, if the board still has plenty of crown/spring in it after you have de-strung the piano, why not repair any splits with similarly well seasoned spruce strips? There is a school of thought that think sound travels along the grain better as the timber ages. You tell somone who has a V...

pianotechman

I favour fitting a new laminated plank when re-stringing even if it seems ok. If that instrument goes into a modern warm environment, and the plank splits, your going to have to do the whole job again, assuming the client has any confidence left in you! Some old Bechstein upright models nearly alway...

pianotechman

Buy some extra felt at the same time, as the strings will cut through the original felt after a while, and you don't want to have to purchase a whole new celeste kit again do you?

pianotechman

Clean outs DO improve the resonance of strings, on a similar note,[pardon the pun] that's why percussionists polish cymbals! Never use any liquid cleaning agent/metal polish on your Bass strings, unless you want an expensive to replace set of 'Dead' strings!

pianotechman

Just as a thought,[ as every tech guy on here has probably already suggested 45mm hammer blow with a 10mm touch depth] what is the condition of your key bushings on the key balance? A badly worn felt bushing even on one side, can be responsible for a loss of accurate key travel even though you think...

pianotechman

Barrie the job is done! I reset the capstans to the geometry of your diagram, then had to remove most of the front leading,[ which was no easy task as they had been 'blind' leaded],so I had to drill a hole on the opposite side of the key then knock them out with a drift. Reset the touch weight to 56...

pianotechman

Thanks for your advice Barrie,I'll certainly implement it! you know you can have done this job for over 37 years and still find new things when you go trouble shooting! How might I contact Mr Fry if I need to, is he also on the forum?

pianotechman

Barrie, looking at your diagram, do we know what dimension 'A' is for the model 'K'? that would put the action in the right place, provided the Renner wippen heels are in the same place as the Steinway originals

I've saved your diagram for refference, hope you don't mind!

pianotechman

Colin, that's helpfull in terms of the blow and touch depth, but as I say, the wippen centres are all fine. Barrie, your diagram is a great help. It looked like they had bent the capstan shafts towards the wippen flange as they were not at 90 deg to the key top. When i bent them forward, obviously t...

pianotechman

Where is the board adrift as a matter of interest?
Some years ago, Rippen produced some uprights with a board that was not anchored at the bottom edge [intentionally just for the record!]

pianotechman

Yeah, Old Steinway grand actions use the felt pads, so after years they compress and the jack top goes further under the roller than it should. I note that their modern actions are now fitted with an adjuster the same as Brooks!

pianotechman

Ok, fellow technicians, So i'm called out to a Steinway model K upright, that has been fully reconditioned by another technician or firm unknown, as the instrument was bought at auction for quite a substantial sum I believe. Nice clean re-string, original STEINWAY keys that have been recovered in pl...

pianotechman

I was enjoying reading the comments about the Bluthner patent action,[ I trained/ worked for the company 1976-86] before this topic got rather 'side tracked'!!

pianotechman

Have you checked the possitioning of the jack under the rollers to begin with? That will also make a difference to the touch/correct working of the action.

pianotechman

Oh dear, that will be an expensive job. Bushing the frame holes, and inserting oversize pins would help, although if the plank is fractured, the oversize pins will just make the split open and 'run' to the next pin hole. Far better to my way of thinking, to replace the existing wrestplank with a mod...

pianotechman

Or a client tells you that you are the tenth tuner he has engaged.....well the other nine couldn't have all been hopeless, so there must be something wrong with the tuning plank? logical.

pianotechman

Robinh must have a good model IV, goodness knows how many wrestplanks I have had to replace due to splitting between the pins in the afforementioned Tenor section!

pianotechman

Dare we ask who made the action first off...Is it a maybe a very old Herburger Brooks?

pianotechman

Colin Leverett was pulling up a newley strung Bluthner style 4 when I was in the Perivale workshop, and the frame went, We thought someone had thrown a bomb through the window!......new pants/knickers all 'round Barrie!

pianotechman

That's the building, used to have a clock on the top of it as well! You can find out more about it in local history books of 'Hayes Middlesex'. It had some links with the EMI building, [electrical & musical industries] or known Locally as the 'Gram' as surprise surprise, they started by making g...

pianotechman

[ So he can say "You made a right mess of that....... :mrgreen: " Sharp intake of breath "that's going to cost to put it right govna " jkl Barrie,[/quote] Probably the sort of self- styled technician who also doubles up in a trade in surfacing drives and Block paving Barrie!....o...

pianotechman

If you do clean the strings with steel wool, please dont be tempted to use any liquid metal polish,. especially on the Bass strings. I went out to a customer once who had, and the tone of the bass strings had been totaly destroyed. You should be able to purchase a special 'carborundum' rubber from t...

pianotechman

I'm not too sure without a picture, but a few of these minis have screws into the key frame from the underside of the bed, that you have to remove and pull the keyboard towards you, OR a metal bracket at each end that you unscrew from the bed and then pull forward. Regulate the dampers, blow and set...

pianotechman

I'm hoping to find information / ideas on the possibility of this piano ever being playable. Has anyone ever converted one of these old cases to an alternate style? Everything is possible,[exept changing a 'straight strung to an overstrung] it just depends to what expense you are prepared to go! It ...

pianotechman

joseph wrote:apparently in America, they see Essex as a symbol of British affluence and prosperity. They haven't quite got the whole chav thing . . . . . . . .

Do they get that idea from episodes of 'Eastenders' where everone is fighting or sleeping with each other and totaly dissfunctional?

pianotechman

Yesterday I came across a Kawai upright on which the sustain pedal was making a very audible 'knock' when the pedal was depressed, I traced the fault to the bass end pivot lug on the damper lift arm that was either worn, or a very poor fit in the first place...it was made of plastic. I had to drill ...

pianotechman

I had to work on a Steinway grand belonging to a Saudi royal, that was covered in green malachite and gold cherubs,[ I believe there were only three made] It weighed a 'ton', and I suppose if it was damaged you'd have to call in a lapidary rather than a polisher!

pianotechman

Speaking as a 'tech' at 'Bluthners' Perivale at the time this model 'A' would have been imported, the tuning pins were usually fine, some of them did have problems with lifting veneer edges on the polyesters as has been pointed out. The main issue is the tone of the instrument over a period of time....

pianotechman

Yeah, post away I've restored a couple of them, so I'd be interested in your progress. One of my clients wanted new hammers which had to be custom made ,[rather than recovering which you may have to settle for if you are on a tight budget]. Also it will probably have old cedar wood shanks, so if you...

pianotechman

If the retailer won't let one of us 'techs' inspect the instrument to see if the damage is only superficial.......it probably isn't!! The left corner of grands often gets damaged in transit if a carrier doesn't doesn't fit a 'shoe' which protects the bass corner when the instrument is turned on its ...

pianotechman

I think Marie means it's an ex-pianolla piano and is missing the 'player chest' rather than the action!. I would advise her to leave the instrument behind, especially if the case is large, as most pianollas were. Wait 'till she gets to Ireland to get another piano, which will be used to the country'...

pianotechman

Can't think for the life of me who you might be talking about Gill!

pianotechman

We used to call the fault 'blubbering', i don't know if that's the universal term in the trade for a hammer that does not go into 'check properly'. A tech should be able to sort it out easily, especially if it's a new instrument!

pianotechman

Thanks to a couple of posters, I now know who 'Raymanboy' is. Some years ago, when he was trading in Berkshire, I went with a client to look at some of his pianos. The reconditioning was dire and then he showed her a dreadfull battered upright with a split wrestplank. Appart from telling her that it...

pianotechman

Having just tuned a new Yamaha GB1 grand, I was interested to hear what fellow posters/technicians thought about them. Unlike the G1 and G3, this instrument seams to have a less strident tone, Has no 'Duplex type' metal bearing bridge,no doping on the hammers and even the frame colour is copper like...

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