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

I make it my policy to test the possibilities which are the easiest to diagnose and fix before moving to the more difficult ones.

I have a show this evening.

Me too. Obviously, I start out by listening. I recognized and could hear where that squeak was coming from. Most of the time, experience will tell us where to look first but, not always. If it isn't what I thought it was, I then proceed to use the process of elimination as necessary until I track it down.

4 yesterday. Old Kimball grand in a church fellowship hall, another old Kimball grand in a different church sanctuary, then a 125 cent pitch raise on an old Kohler & Campbell console, and finally topped off by a new George Steck grand. Nicely paced day.

I had a show this evening, and so I arranged to tune another piano beforehand, a Yamaha T118. When I got there, the owner told me that her daughter had dropped something onto the music desk and split it. She had ordered a new desk, but did not feel competent to drill and install it. So I spent the afternoon doing that, instead of tuning. All I carry with me is a Yankee drill, which has three bits, two of which just happen to be exactly the correct size for the screws and rubber bumpers.

It was a different CFIIIs at the show than the one last week. I realized that when I found it was missing a string, where someone had tied off one that had broken. I thought it had gone out of tune rather strangely.

Got 8 of them tuned at the college today. OK, okkkk, so I cheated! I had help! hehehe! Another tuner did 3, I did 5. We regulated 2 brand new (6 months old or less) vertical Kawai's AGAIN, that did not have enough key dip. Tomorrow, we will have to regulate a brand new U1 with the same problem.

I run into that problem a lot around here too, Jer. I always attribute it to how dry it gets. I'll regulate in the spring, and by January the aftertouch is pretty much vanished.

Worked on a KG2 with really hard let off. Knuckles are almost flat -thinking they may need to be bolstered (would be my first set)- jacks are way under the knuckle and the balance hole is really tight. This Kawai is an early 80's, is this a common thing? No aftertouch either. At first I was thinking because of the knuckles being flat, that the hammer line would be low and be the cause of no AFTCH... but either someone has already rasied the Hammers or there's just no Aftch.

If they are hard, they may need to just be replaced. How are the hammers? Maybe replace the whole set? Hammers, shanks, knuckles, flanges? Could prove to be the better way to proceed. The piano is roughly 30 years old. Sounds like it may have possibly had its fair share of use over the years?

Tight balance holes could be a humidity issue too? Is it in a basement?

It is possible some "jack tooner" got a hold of the piano and screwed up the regulation too. The fun part is figuring out if that indeed happened and then, what to do next.

After touch is also affected by key dip as well. Sounds like a full regulation is in order too.

I hear ya Jer, this is on consignment at the store and the action is hard as H E double hockey sticks, hangs real hard at let off, it just gets through and then there's no Aftch. Did a sample set in the middle, aligned jacks, set jack to knuckles and had to put a little hammer lift and just that little bit helped alot. Not sure they want to spend the $$, if you know what I mean...haha. Plus, it make my S&S A play like a dream....lol

Hey Les,

Depends on how badly they want to sell it I suppose.

Maybe a little brushing of the knuckles would soften them up a bit? I used a soft bristled brush after cleaning the crud out of the knuckles on pianos like that if they weren't willing to put much money into it. It does help to soften up the knuckles some. Then, put some soap stone on them so the jacks will slide out quicker. Raising the hammer line will definitely help after touch for sure but, you already know that!

If possible, tear the whole thing apart. Well, I mean, take the stack off and then the keys. Clean and lubricate the balance rail pins and everything else in there, capstans etc. Then, do likewise with the action. It always makes a huge difference in touch afterward.

Les,

By "bolstering", are you referring to pulling some material, e.g. a thick yarn, between the knuckle leathers and the underfelts? Reblitz describes this for upright butts that are indented but still have some life left in them - to alleviate the problem of bumpy let-off.

Having a run of Piggy-Back tunings. You know, "I am glad you could tune the Church piano. Can I make an appointment to have my home piano tuned?" I am not complaining, it just seems to be a social thing, and that confuses me.

Thanks Jer, that's me plan the the today then...

Mark, yup that's the same thing, but on a grand knuckle...

Yes Mark, bolstering knuckles can give good results provided they are not to hard, brittle or to thin where running yarn through it tears it. I use a flat yarn needle to do this. The flatter, the better for me.

Thanks for the heads-up on the flat needle, Jerry. Like most things in life, it makes perfect sense, once you think about it...

Pitch raise city these days. Pretty much everything I've done the last 3 days is running 50-125 cents flat.

Tuned 4 pianos again today with NO repairs, what do you know!!! My friend, tuned 4 also. Son Jer, brought a couple up to pitch for me and I made my reservations to attend the PTG convention today! At least at the hotel anyway.... Still have to pay home office for 2 people yet... Sigh.....

It's not so much about what I did today, but the advice I am about to give:

1. If bass strings break in your piano, don't throw them away.

2. Repeat #1

Tuned a piano in a recording studio and broke the string on B7. I tied it and it broke again just as I was getting it up to pitch, so I had to replace it.

I got a tip from another technician on string replacement. Put the beckett on the opposite side of the pin from where it was originally because the hole is likely to have become rounded and will lead to a slipping beckett and cause slippage. an open beckett and instability.

I also received a third invitation to present the EBVT at a chapter meeting.

Had a good tech day with a lot of numbers. Kees and I are dwelling on irregular stretch on regular, rational ETD's. Looks very promising. I'd like Bill's temperament to more readily available to tuners, not only aurally. It's such a nice temperament that it deserves that kind of availability.