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Partial regulation on a Samick SG-161, will try to finish it tomorrow. Also applied lacquer to shoulders of hammers. It was extremely dull and had no life. Of course the church wants the cheapest way out. I hope to finish it tomorrow. I am slow with regulation but enjoy the break from tuning after tuning.

I woke, ate cereal. drove to work, saw 25 patients, ran at lunch, went home, picked up my daughter then watched Simpsons with her, ate leftovers, practiced Bach, Chopin, 2 hand unison improvisation, Ragtime, improvised voicings, ostinato with improv, got mad at my C7 for brightness, rubbed the hammer flet with a wire brush, got sleepy, went to sleep.
We need more life!

Replaced action brackets on a Schafter/YC, regulated and tuned it. Tuned a Yamaha U-6 and a William Steinberg upright. Went for a ride....long day. I agree with Mr. Nadler. More hours of life would be a good thing.

worked on an old Lauter grand yesterday, all day. It was my second visit with the piano. During this visit I regulated the hammer height, jack - knuckle alignment, let-off, and hammer drop. Replaced all old front rail punchings as they were badly moth eaten (i am guessing) and regulated key dip. Keys were fairly level. Finally i raised the pitch to A430. The first visit I rasied the pitch to A420. The string becketts are badly rusted and is the reason for the gradual pitch raising. So far I have been able to avoid a single string breakage. Next visit, A440. . .if possible : )

I did two shows yesterday. I noticed a bunch of concert grands at the second: Besides my Yamaha CFIIIs and the house Baldwin D, there was a couple of Hamburg Ds, one from ProPiano, the other probably C & A.

I would have liked to have seen the first show I tuned for. The act was slated to begin after the other show finished, but I was just spent.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!

What a great trip! We had a wonderful time in D.C. Nice place to visit. Interesting to see differences in how people react and respond to discussion there verses here in my home town and state. Anyone we made verbal contact with responded immediately and were extremely friendly and very helpful.

Back to reality. I worked Monday and today spending every moment (almost) between appointments and after, returning calls, checking and responding to business emails and other office related stuff. I think I am finally caught up. Still quite tired from the miles and miles of walking there.

Tuned 3 homes yesterday, a Gulbransen console, a Yamaha console, a Cable spinet, not tuned in over 20 years. Came home for lunch and did office work. Came home after tuning the 3 pianos and did more office work. Then went to dinner with some friends and then went to a PTG meeting after that. Came home and did more office work.

Today, tuned 4 more pianos. A Kawai RX-1, an older Kawai KG-30, a crappy George Steck grand and an older Everett console. Came home and did lots more office work.

Think I'm about finally caught up now.... I think!

Today it was a Kimball spinet, half a tone flat. Took out a lot of lost motion, adjusted the backchecks and some of the dampers, and it probably sounded and played better than it ever had before, even when it was new.

!!!!

Today, it was a rental Sherman Clay/Kimball console, close to pitch, a Walter 190 grand, a Kawai k-18 upright, a walk on the beach in San Francisco to kill an hour and check out the mighty pacific, then a Steinber upright.

Yesterday I tuned a Hamburg D at the new Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto for a concert with Lynn Harrel on cello, Richard Levin on piano, and Richard Stoltzman on clarinet. Spent half an hour watching them rehearse a very interesting modern trio from the 3rd row, then had 20 minutes to tune a piano where the entire mid range and bass had drifted several cents flat. Fortunately, the treble was at pitch and mostly in tune. Tuning triage.... As Mr. Stoltzman assembled his clarinet on stage as I tuned, he said a very gracious "thank you for tuning the piano." Nice to get a little of that once in a while!

Cool one this morning...a Story & Clark console. One of the pedal rods had fallen out so I removed the bottom panel and written in permanent marker on the inside of the case it said, "last piano built in Grand Haven, MI, 1984" and then it was signed by about 20 factory workers. The owner had never seen it.

Then, return trip to a Yamaha G3 that I tuned 5 weeks ago and installed a DC 4 weeks ago...soundboard cracks magically disappearing and 8c sharp in the mid-range. Repositioned the humidistat and re-tuned.

Eric, that factory has since been turned into a restaurant. I've toured the S&C factory a few times while it was still in business. The Everett piano Factory as well. It's cool to look around at those HUGE beams holding the building together made out of solid wood something or another... Very nice buildings.

Tuned a handful of Yamaha stuff today for a dealer. 3 T118's, 2 Cable Nelson's, and a Gulbransen console. Sometimes its nice to tune new piano. No false beats to struggle with. Although, the tuning pins on the Cable Nelsons gave me a work-out.

Tuned a D at 7am, then my 9am butt cord replacement blew me off, so I did some gardening, then tuned a Cable Nelson at 5pm, tuned a harpsichord at 7pm, and attended a student/faculty percussion concert at the U. First act: three students clapping. Second act: 10 students alternating playing a dual 4 drum kit. One student would appear out of the audience and blend right in with those already playing, then another would leave, and "blend out". Third act: Steinway D and B, two digital pianos, six different types of marimbas played by faculty, guest artists, and students. Sometimes the marimbas were bowed with a cello bow. The pianos and keyboards provided a basic underlying and ever changing beat. Cool stuff. Love those concerts at the U.

Spent the last 3 days with some stomach flue, 12 hours driving the bus, fever broke this morning. It feels good to be back alive. I only hope no one gets it, it's horrible.

But over the week end, I spent some time out in the garage stripping ...ok, lower your eyelids... it was a piano bench, those thing take forever to strip.

Sorry to hear that Monster. Hope you feel better soon.

So far today, tuned 2 home pianos. A Kawai UST-7 and a 52" Schimmel vertical. Killing time at the moment. Have a 4 PM Steinway grand tuning then a concert tuning at 6 PM with only 1 hour to tune it. Yesterday, tuned a RX-7, a Yammie M1A, an Everett studio and a lousy Cable console with a tone so brittle that it could pop the cork off from a champagne bottle. Couldn't even get needles into it. But, I did manage to cut the tone about in half.

Drove 50 miles and had a no show to get into a church. No cell service.
Finished up a Samick 161, new knuckles and regulate and tune.
Appraised an old Gulbransen consle.
Repaired a gritty squeaky pedal on a Yamaha C2. Screws needed to be tightened in the damper section.
Lady called back on the no show and said they forgot to open the door. I will return at my convenience.

Made a new bench top and stained. Start spraying tomorrow.

Tuned a nice Yamaha C3, a Schimmel grand about 7'4" or so, a Schimmel vertical, a Kawai GM-10, A Kawai K-15 E, another Schimmel vertical. Plus, regulated lost motion, fiddled with adjusting pedals, removing debris from within some of the pianos, taking pictures of sounding boards with cracks in them for the manufacturer and some other fun stuff.

flue: noun
...
2. any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like.
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You have my sincere condolences and wishes for a speedy recovery.

And be sure to use duct tape....