Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum So, what did you do today?

Returned my rental car to Enterprise, and walked next door and wrote out a $1350 check to retrieve my 2005 F150...repairs it needed to the front end bearings, brakes, et al. But, at 140K miles, she's a beaut' and I'll drive her till 300K probably...

Then, 5 appts...tuned a Grinnell grand, stopped in to pull bolts up on a structural repair to a Wurlitzer upright that has (had) a seperated PB, tuned a Yamaha G series grand, did a service call to a police captain who purchased a Baldwin upright for $100, that needed $450 in work...he said yes...then my last appt in Bangor MI to repair and install moisture control into a Estey spinet.

Last thing was a phone call to assist a long time customer with selling her G series Yamaha grand to another client looking for a piano...I do this free of commission as a "put people together" referral...works out well for everybody.

Then, because Jerry Groot takes so many days off, I was able to drive up to Grand Rapids and sneak into his house and take that .06 cents he leaves in his top drawer. That'll teach him.

RPD

Ah ha ha!
Nice one.

(Yesterday, actually)

Received my first ever tuning lever (Schaff extension lever) with #1, #2 and narrow-walled tip, together with a small assortment of regulating tools, voicing tool, paper punchings and some materials to repair catchers on my old Zimmermann, silk cord, and a few other smalls. Christmas came early this year. (And my wallet is still bruised.)

My thanks to various techs, especially Chuck Behm, for answering all sorts of questions.

Then tested the new hammer, and found to my dismay that most pins in the mid-range and bass on my recently purchased Ibach are quite loose. (I estimate perhaps 10-20 Nm tuning down, perhaps 30 Nm tuning up.) Treble section is better.

Also noticed that the end of the tuning tip facing the string coils has some play, more so on the #2 than the #1 (pins are 0.274", i.e. a smallish #1), so that the other end of the hammer can actually be wiggled towards and away from the pinblock by about 1/8". I hope that this is normal, and not some funny pin shape - or a defect in the tuning tips.

Now considering my options...
Try to raise from -70 to -40 cents and see whether the pins hold, if yes, raise further
If no, wick extra-thin CA between pins and bushings, or
Pound pins deeper, or
Remove pins, swab holes with regular CA, re-insert pins, or
Insert sandpaper shims, or
Re-pin with #2

Not sure whether (and how) one can determine the basic integrity of the pinblock (cracks vs. simply having lost its grip with age), to decide on one or more of the above procedures.

So, a bit disappointed and sad, but wanting to solve the problem!

Any advice welcome... (Tell me if you think I should open a separate thread for this.)

Mark:

I always feel like the kid singing "The Wells Fargo Wagon" in the musical "Music Man" when I am expecting a package.

Yeah, a new Topic would be good, but here's a short answer. If the pins hold the torque that the string is exerting on them, then there is no reason to mess with them for reasons of stability, but there may be for tunability.

AHA! Caughtcha! SOOOO, that's where that .06¢ went! I was saving that for my next piece of candy! With all of my days off, I need to save up for these things now don'tchaknno? Hmmm, you know? I didn't even know that I had a "sixth ¢-th."

Jeff,

Didn't know that song... Just looked up the lyrics, and saw that there might even a double boiler on the wagon.

Right-o, will open a new thread soon. And yes, tunability was difficult with those pins. Just the slightest nudge down, and "it goes", even though all of them are holding current pitch - at least for a night. The tighter pins on my Zimmermann were much easier to "hone in".

Mark:

You haven't ever seen "The Music Man"???? Say it isn't so!

Jeff, how can I say it isn't so, if it is? Yes, I'm an illiterate barbarian from the Dark Continent.

(And my German friends are just as surprised when they read that I haven't done some of their stuff either, but somehow still manage to live. )

But hey, cut me some slack, at least I own two pianos (should count for something in here!), one with a decrepit action, bad strings, cheap hammers but a good pinblock, the other with a good action but an aged cabinet and loose pins - and I've just spent four tuning fees in importing tools from the U.S. of A., only to discover that the piano I wanted to keep may be untunable.

Now, do tell me why I should see The Music Man.

For your own edification. Like any good drama, the last scene answers an eternal question that the very entertaining plot only vaguely explores. I won't even mention the question. I do not what to take away any of the enjoyment when you get to watch it. I am sure it is available for rental.

Tuned 4 this morning. Started at 9:30, was done by 11:30. Tuned a Steinway M, a Steinway console, man, I hate tuning those Steinway verticals, jumpy, screwed up tuning pins, a Kimblah grand, a Weber console. Replaced a broken plastic "thingy" on the bottom of the sustaining pedal. The plastic piece that goes inside of the pedal rod. Afternoon off. Does this mean that Rick is going to steal from me again?

There's worse than stealing. What if he said that he stuck something in your toilet and returned it to its normal place, but won't tell you what it was? (Like the toilet brush...)

Rather have him steal .06 ¢.

Fairly easy day. Started with an old Henry F. Miller spinet. This is one of those ones with the key buttons on the bottom of the keys resting on the balance rail. Four of them separated from the keys and had to be reguled. Hammers reshaped and aligned with strings, then raised 60 cents to 440. After that, a Pramenger grand on a school stage for a choir concert. Would have had two more, but the last customer was a no show.

And Jerry, boy do I hear you about those Steinway verticals. The pins and string rendering are just horrendous.

OK, Jeff, although I haven't seen this movie in any of my usual video rental haunts, I'll keep an eye out for it.

Ha! Interesting idea Jeff...I wish I'd thought of it! (...turns out that piano techs might not be good enemies to have !)

Jerry, you're safe. Its nearing Halloween and I'm missing my chicken suit...I don't suspect you (yet) but we're on the lookout!

As for me today, six appts but only four tunings...I did an estimate for a grand regulation at a golf course, and my netbook cord (8 months old) broke and waddya know, nobody in kalamazoo has one...not Best Buy where I purchased it, nobody! With the computer down, I was left to tune BY EAR all day. Did you guys know that a person can actually tune a whole piano entirely by ear?!

My last tuning was a C7 in prep for a concert and with a 25-35 cent pitch adjustment...Boy did I miss my Tune Lab!!...but with a bit of old school stripping the scale and lots of aural tests that I use anyway all the time, we got through it.

Funny thing, tuning by ear is faster for me...it always has been...and its satisfying in a way that defies logic...

All in all, a good day.

RPD

I have to admit. When I saw RPD.... I got a big smile on my face because I knew I would be in for another giggle. Thanks!

Glad to hear your day went so smoothly Rick! I enjoy tuning by ear too and yes, it is MUCH faster than using a machine any day in my opinion. I still enjoy using RCT though if nothing more than for the pitch raising feature.

I'd rather have him steal even $600, er, make that $60...

(Actually I heard that this toilet brush trick was part of a Seinfeld episode.)

Yesterday, after tuning a Schimmel 6'6" grand, I moved on to a real piano, a Currier I did something I virtually never do: tuned the entire thing by machine from note one up through note 88. Nothing about this job was satisfying, other than payment.

I gave the lady--who had a late model Mercedes sedan parked next to her Lexus in the driveway of her expensive home-- the required lecture about her daughter's musical education, blah, blah, blah. Some of it may have sunk in. I hope so, anyway.

While tuning, I saw that the scale was designed by Charles Frederick Stein. Unfortunately, no piano I've ever seen with his name on it will go into the musical instrument hall of fame. However, it did give me reason to Google his name, and this LIST OF PIANO FACTOIDS popped up.

First was a 60's vintage Baldwin Hamilton in a middle school, then a 3-year old Boston studio piano at a high school. After that, a 20-year old Yamaha grand in another high school followed by a private tuning of a new Baldwin Hamilton. Nice day; not too busy, not too slow.

3 today out of 5. Arrived to the organization to find out 2 pianos had been given away. Oh well. I'd rather tune 3 a day anyway. Tuned a Steinway M, a really nice, pretty green one! Puke Green! Tuned an OLD Weber grand with loose tuning pins, used a bit of CA... Tuned a Baldwin spinet.

Great day really.