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

I hate when Dampp-Chasers are installed incorrectly on pianos belonging to customers who have not been properly educated as to the care and maintenance of them, allowing the tanks to run dry, etc.

I love properly installed Dampp-Chasers in the homes of customers who actually care for them and the instrument they're installed in.

Yesterday, tuned "my three." Tuned a nice Yammie console that I tuned a year ago, was on pitch.. Then, tuned a Wurlitzer spinet, not so nice a piano, kept wanting to drift but, then again, I raised it 1/2 tone to 440. Then tuned a Gulbransen console. Dad tuned it last in 1994. Raised that one 1/2 tone too. No strings broke, that one tuned better....

We maintained pianos of a care center facility today.
It's a　Volunteer. photo

I crammed in 7 on Thursday so I could take a 4 day weekend! What a seven, though...

1. Aeolian spinet, 100 cents flat
2. Weaver spinet, 75 cents flat
3. Wurli console, at pitch
4. Lester spinet, 125 cents flat
5. Kohler & Campbell spinet 85 cents flat
6. Howard spinet, 200 cents flat!
7. Wurlitzer spinet, 85 cents flat

Yes, I came home totally spent!

Yesterday I had a HUGE boost to my morale as a beginning technician.

My brother and father visited, and being an avid player, my brother sat down at my Ibach, which is a twin to my parents' Ibach (on which my brother plays almost daily). After playing a while, he complimented me on the evenness of the touch. "Now this is the way the action should feel!" he said to Dad.

This comment, being totally unsolicited, really heartened me, because I spent much effort and time last year to get the touch even, especially to ease and even out the overly tight and inconsistent damper springs.

He then had an impromptu jam session (Around Midnight, Misty, In your own sweet way, etc.), and we exchanged interesting jazz voicings over some red wine.

Having someone else appreciate one's handiwork makes it so much sweeter.

I took a hike in the Orlando Wetlands, and met up with some alligators on one of the berms. There were six gators at first, but three smaller ones got in the water as I approached. The remaining 7' gators showed me some teeth and stayed put. I was going to walk around them on the left, but the far gator was pointed the wrong way.....so, after some yelling and jumping which did nothing, I walked up to the near gator and poked him with a stick (6' camera monopod). That got him to rush into the water, and the other two followed in short order and I was able to continue on my way...........

I still think YOU'RE NUTS BOB!!!!! Me run the OTHER way! In fact, me stay home!

yikes Bob!... I've been extremely busy for this time of year, people seem to be piling out to get their pianos tuned... folks who have been absent for years. I guess that's a good sign for economic turnaround.
Me.. I'm headed to beach next week, so.. catch you guys later. SM

Hey, is anyone else having problems with PW in certain areas being larger than your computer screen or, is that just me? If so, what for how come???

Well, my screen is wide enough, even without going to the 27" iMac. But these things get wider if someone posts a wide picture or a URL that is really long.

My screen is big too. Flat screen 24" I think it is. Still, this thread and that unison's threads are the only two that are doing it. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm huming to myself. Or, is that talking?

Yeah, and its not consistent...sometimes its way too big to fit my screen, other times like now its just fine.

Glad its happening to somebody else too! I thought I was shrinking!

RPD

Yeah but, there are only a "couple of us" wondering about it Rick. Maybe they have eye ball problems and we don't???

Started off standing an upright back upright so I could tune it after doping yesterday! Pins felt nice and the tuning went smoothly except for a spliced bass string that broke again above the knot (in the new wire). From there, tuned a Yamaha P22 and installed a new string at a church. After that, an old Kranich & Bach grand that I had to pull the action out of, but couldn't because the leg screws were going up through the action...grrr... found the offending leg, put the piano jack under the keybed for support, backed the screws out and pulled the action. Finally, the last tuning; another old upright that tuned up nicely and had a really nice sound!

Made for a nice, busy but paced day. Good way to finish the week!

Me too. Tuned 4 pianos today and drove over 100 miles on top of that! 1 piano, an Ackerman console, I'm not very fond of. Tuned it, raised the hammer rail and regulated lost motion to get more after touch and to get to get the dampers to lift sooner.
The next 3 pianos were a very nice Everett grand, a Yamaha C3 and a Yamaha P202. All out of town so, I charged extra, extra, read all about it!

I love C3's!

What was the reason for doing this adjustment? Was it an issue with the sound of the piano, or rather the feel of the action?

The piano still needs more regulation. We're doing little bits at a time as she can afford it. The hammer line was to far back and the dampers were not coming off soon enough with the spoons. They should start to move when the hammer is about 1/2 way to the string. They were barely moving at all before I raised the hammer rail.

Raising the hammer line, brings it to where it belongs in relation to the hammers distance from the strings creating lost motion. Eliminating the lost motion automatically raises up the wippen which engages the damper spoon sooner and it also gives more after touch all at the same time.

Our next step is to level keys, increase the key height a tad which will then also give us a bit more key dip and a little bit more after touch which is still needed. We just barely have enough after touch right now so no hammers are bobbling but, they could easily bobble if played softly. Plus, the let off is more like 3/8" instead of 1/8". Bringing let off back to 1/8" or so, will give less after touch again. So, all in all, by the time we're finished with the key height etc., we should be good to go.

Hit the spa today, building tan for beach week with my lady friends. Worked really hard last week to be able to take some time off. I'm planning to take my art supplies with me and do some of that. Don't know what the stupid malevolent thing was about, and can't spell it anyway. So.... later!

Or, as I've run into before...Raising the hammer line and adjusting captans makes the dampers leak....Probably why the hammer line was set wrong to begin with....spoon adjustment on a spinet......ahhhhhhh......not.........