Dan,
Everything was great!
You and Pam were the perfect hosts.

It was nice to see everyone, and especially the "New England chapter of PW" who came all the way from MA.

I only wish I could have arrived a bit earlier.

Thanks again and I'm looking forward to NEXT YEAR'S piano party.

Thanks Ori,
Your presence, and playing, are always an asset to our parties. Have to start planning soon for the next one

Bernard,
Just wanted to update you. I took your observation and went in to see what I could do about it. I was able to increase the tension on the repetition springs significantly without adversely affecting any other aspect of regulation, so the return is significantly faster now. What I will do now is readjust the magnets to compensate for the additional resistance the springs are providing. You should notice a real improvement in key return the next time you play the big boy.

Let's see...

You have THE BIG BOY,

THE LITTLE LADY,


hmmmmm......, without getting A GRAND KID,

what does that leave for the third addition?

huh, huh, huh?

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Hmm,

The Mason & Hamlin mates with the Estonia and an
Estonia Mason is born! :rolleyes:

The Bear

And at long last... Lilylady.. exploring the magic of the CC2 (LJC looking on).



I enjoy the passion and the feeling Lilylady brings forth in her music. I am fortunate in having her for a piano friend for the comfort she offers me in facing my fears when playing in front of a crowd. For right now, (I'm a work in progress) I'm the one in the crowd that needs the extra nudge to get up and perform.

I'm also fortunate that her expertise as a former piano teacher, allows me an opportunity to be coached whenever she feels necessary. She has been given free reign to zone in on any improvements I need to make. I love "free" advise!!


Having the opportunity to meet at gatherings with piano friends are all part of a wonderful journey I've been allowed to experience.

Hi again everyone,
Well, it's been exactly one week since the big "shindig on Long Island". As promised, I'm finally getting around to posting some of the pictures I took. Enjoy!!:

Roberta takes the Big Boy for a ride while John looks on:



The gang chillin' at the night's end:




Karen and Pam ham it up for the camera:



Tim, Zeno, Estella, and RoyP enjoying each other's company and the music:



Mark turns pages for Linda:

And here's some more:

Frank and David Stanwood take in some fresh air:



John takes the Estonia 190 out for a spin:



Roberta leading the chorus:



Dr. V and the rest of the gang stay close to the Mason:



Dr. V doing some jazz improv on the Estonia:



RoyP, Mark and Gail Stanwood, (David's Mom):



David Stanwood and Shelley converse:



Terry preparing her luscious dip:

Wonderful memories in these pics, Dan!

I had no decent pics of Roy or David Stanwood so was glad that you had some to post.

But, when did I become Italian (talking with my hands)?

What a great party it was...have you and Pam recovered?

And has Pam CHECKED OUT THE ADULT BEGINNER'S FORUM yet? (you go girl!)

And have you found the spot for the 3rd piano yet?



LL

Great, thanks for adding your photos, Dan! And thanks to Roberta for her album, of course!

Again, it was a great and fun time.

I just know that in a year's time Dan will tweaked the CC2 to even greater heights!

Hi. It was great to meet everyone. I just returned today from a nice week working in New York. Thanks to Dan and Pam for a great party. I was glad to be there and to get to hear so many fine players. I only wish that it wasn't so far away.

Hi Roberta, Joe and Roy,
So glad you enjoyed these pics. They really do capture the fun and camaraderie of the day. Pam and I enjoyed having all of you with us, sharing our home and, especially, our pianos. Roy and I had a terrific three days working together on a Steinway D Wapin Bridge job, beginning the day after the party. It really all came together beautifully and the owner, who is a Concert Pianist, was truly thrilled with the outcome. That was very rewarding for the two of us, and made all that hard work worthwhile. I, too, wish Roy lived closer.
Thanks, again, to all who came last Saturday.

Hello Dan,
Wow, what a party! The pictures of Long Island Sound, your CC2 and 190 brought back some great memories. Instead of travelling north, I'm down in Mexico City for 10 days on business. I hope to be able to make it next year.

Thanks for the great pics lilylady. You are correct, in that Dan has a love for pianos that is truly unique! And on top of that, he is a consumate gentleman. As soon as I got to his house, the first thing he did was pull out the grand action on the CC2 and explain all the modifcations he's made. I'm not surprised that people left later than expected. Dan is a tremendous host. And it was good to see Ori again. Hi Ori.

Best regards,
Roger

Hi Roger,
Thanks for your kind words and wishes. Sure wish you could have been here to share the day with us. Hope you can next year!!
All the best,
Dan

Thanks for posting the pictures! What a nice piano party!

It is gratifying that people seem to have liked the M&H CC2. Alot of work went into it. I have been busy non-stop since returning, but wanted to post something.

Now those of you who attended the party have at least heard a Wapin bridge, and will have an idea of what it sounds like. It really enhances the sound of a piano. There was a night and day difference in the CC2 after installing Wapin. Someone before me had done a quality rebuild/soundboard job. Also, the Abel Select hammers are a really nice choice. Still, Wapin let these components ring freely. It could still be voiced. I don't believe that any voicing has been done to those hammers. Even more remarkable, huh? Dan can correct me if I'm wrong about that. Maybe he has done a little that I don't know about. I did level the strings after the Wapin job. May have filed the hammers at that time. I usually do that in conjunction with string-leveling. But, that is it.

I mostly wanted to write about the action. It had a full Stanwood job done on it, with the performance option of magnetic assistance. It is a magnetically assisted action. The component weights of the action are still balanced throughout the keyboard, just like on a normal Stanwood job. It is just done at a higher balance weight. One thing is that this action is fully adjustable as far as touchweight goes. There are two sets of opposing magnets, front and rear. To get more affect (to lighten touchweight), the magnets are adjusted closer together. To get less affect, the gap between the magnets is increased. It would take a technician about the time it takes to do a tuning to readjust the keyboard. In this case, Dan wanted the toughtweight set to 48 grams. So, it is relatively light. It could just as easily be adjusted to 55 grams, or whatever you wanted.

Thanks again to Dan for helping me on the Wapin installation on the Steinway D in the days after the party. He took two days off of work. What a guy! His help was invaluable. To be clear about the time it took, we started the Wapin installation on Sunday afternoon, and had it finished by Monday evening. It really went very smoothly. Then I spent several days working on the action. I may start a seperate thread about that piano when I get time. It was really quite an experience (in a good way).

Thanks to all who attended the party. I think I met most of you who attended, and can at least put some faces to the names now.

Hi Roy,
Thanks for your post and kind words. I thoroughly enjoyed working, once again, with you on the Wapin installation on the Steinway D. I visited the owner the other day to see how he was doing with all the new changes and he is nothing short of ecstatic with it. For those who are interested, this man is a world class concert pianist who plays all over the world. He owns a restored 1910 Steinway D as well as a beautiful B. He has never been happy with the tone of the D, and ultimately looked into Wapin as a cure. Roy and I worked on this piano in the owner's studio for about a day and a half, replacing the original bridge with a Wapin. The job went remarkably smoothly, from that perspective, but, when we went to replace the action so that the piano could be pitch raised, it would not slide back into the keybed!! We finally realized that the action stack had been set too high by whomever had rebuilt the action in the past. Roy then had to spend an additional two days altering the keyframe to allow him to drop the stack down, and then he performed a full concert regulation and voicing. The piano now sounds and plays incredibly well. The owner feels that it is a completely different instrument (for the better), and is thrilled with the result. The tone has opened up and the piano sings as it never could before. Roy and I had a real blast working together on this instrument, especially after seeing the owner's final reaction. The experience was made all the more special by the wonderful hospitality shown to us by he and his wife. I look forward to our next piano adventure together Roy!!