[Fwd: [NAMESU] Question from Hawaii--Piano Rebuilding]

[Susan Kline]

Excellent advice, Fred. Let's see if they follow it.

Susan

At 12:57 PM 2/2/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Following is the response I sent along to my previous post:
>
>Rebuilding is generally defined as the replacement of parts, on any of
>several levels:
>     The simplest is "action rebuilding" which may range from replacing
>hammers, shanks and flanges and rebushing keys to replacement of all
>action parts and replacement of the entire keyboard, with possible
>changes in geometry if that seems warranted for some reason.
>     For the remainder of the piano, one would begin with a restring,
>using the existing pinblock (probably with oversized tuning pins) as the
>most minor, proceeding to pinblock replacement, bridge
>repairs/recapping/replacment, soundboard repairs or replacement.
>     In other words, there is a vast array of meanings that can be
>attached to the phrase "rebuilding a piano." It must be defined. Hence,
>the institution seeking bids needs first to have a consulting technician
>evaluate the pianos and determine the extent of work needed for each. So
>the first step is to find a qualified and trustworthy technician to act
>in an advisory - or perhaps supervisory - capacity.
>     As for the question of how to define what I will describe as an
>"acceptable quality outcome" (which is what I will interpret by
>excellent voicing), I don't believe contractual language will help you
>there. Voicing is very much dependent on every step of the rebuilding
>process. Assuming a fairly major rebuild, it will involve
>1) a good selection of action parts
>2) a good selection of hammers
>3) meticulously assembled and aligned parts
>4) excellent regulation
>5) meticulously bushed and prepared keys
>6) meticulous attention to termination points prior to restringing
>(agraffes, capo d'astro bar, bridges)
>7) well-leveled strings
>8) hammers meticulously mated to strings
>     I could go on, but want to give a flavor of what is involved, even
>if the individual terms don't all mean much to you. In the final
>analysis, a skilled rebuilder must be found, someone you can trust to
>produce an acceptable outcome based on experience. I would recommend
>limiting bidding to rebuilders who can demonstrate their skill by
>referring jobs that they have done - send not only a pianist, but a
>technician to look at examples of their workmanship before allowing them
>to bid. Skill levels of rebuilders vary immensely.
>     I don't know any technicians in Hawaii, but would suggest a good
>place to begin is by finding Registered Piano Technician members of the
>Piano Technicians Guild (look on the web page www.ptg.org). Hawaii being
>so isolated, choices may be limited. If adequate skill can't be found on
>the islands, it might be necessary to deal with mainland shops - there
>are many excellent rebuilders on the California coast. It might be wise
>to have one or two pianos rebuilt and see if the results are
>satisfactory before contracting for all of them.
>Hope this helps,
>Fred Sturm
>
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