[CAUT] Consultants, was CA for loose pins on a "D"?

[Jeff Tanner]

I agree with Joseph here.  There is no one -- not one person at your 
university - who is serving as a piano inventory consultant unless it 
is us.  That should be a part of each of our job descriptions.  Who are 
we going to leave consultation up to if it is not to the experts?  We 
are indeed the "senior consultants".  If we are not being viewed as 
such, there is a serious problem in the system.

Jeff T



On Sunday, April 17, 2005, at 09:06 AM, Joseph D. Gotta, RPT wrote:

> OK, I wasn't so much encouraging, 'forcing the hand of the school' as
> avoiding ENABLING them to continue ignoring a crippled failing concert
> instrument while they continue to allocate funds to million dollar
> landscaping projects. Yes CA glue will make the piano tunable but what
> about the loose bridge pins, cracked soundboard, excessive false beats,
> etc... As a university technician your job of course is 'to help an
> instrument hold the tune' but also to guide them in the direction of
> excellence. Patching and rigging a concert instrument for minimum
> adequacy runs the risk of underestimating the desire and ability of the
> school to achieve that high degree of excellence. The old saying
> 'necessity is the mother of invention' comes to mind. Numerous times
> I've seen institutions suddenly 'find' the means to do what needs to be
> done, or patrons step up to the challenge and fund new pianos or 
> rebuild
> work. Yes communication is important, but sometimes standing back and
> allowing nature to take its course is one of the most effective tools 
> we
> have.
>
> Joseph D. Gotta RPT
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> Barbara Richmond
> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 10:41 AM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>
> I agree on the need for a good instrument, but, I have a bit of a
> problem
> with trying to force the hand of the school.  Did Cy say the school is
> awash
> in cash?   Is there really harm in helping an instrument hold the tune?
> I
> believe as a university technician, my job was (was, because I moved
> away)
> to explain the choices available--especially when the choices involved 
> a
> lot
> of money.
>
> My recommendation, Cy, is communicate!  Explain the situation as best
> you
> can.  Explain what you *can* or *might be able to accomplish* and
> include
> that what you can do is not the end all solution, they had better start
> raising the funds for the big fix or purchase--if that is the case.
> This
> type of approach sure has turned out to be the road to success for me.
>
> Barbara Richmond, RPT
> Braden Auditorium at Illinois State University
>
> PS  I just used CA on a B for a financially strapped institution.  They
> were
> extremely happy to have use of the instrument again.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Joseph D. Gotta, RPT
> To: 'College and University Technicians'
> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 7:35 AM
> Subject: RE: [CAUT] CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>
>
>
>          Having said all that, if the piano is in a more 
> environmentally
> friendly home now, doing any sort of repair may be doing the college a
> disservice as well as shooting yourself in the foot at the same time.
> The
> fact of the matter is that the college students need a top of the line
> instrument such as this one has the potential to be, the faculty needs
> it,
> and the college is awash in cash to do the job if they decide to
> adequate
> the funds. Repairs may only deny the students and faculty a better
> instrument for an extended period of time. Sometimes allowing them to
> suffer
> a poorly performing piano is the right thing to do. It allows them to
> keep
> the incentive to do what they both need and can afford, rebuild.
>
> Joseph D. Gotta RPT
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of 
> Cy
> Shuster
> Sent: Friday, April 15, 2005 10:20 PM
> To: CAUT
> Subject: [CAUT] CA for loose pins on a "D"?
>
> I've been studying piano technology for ten years, on and off (I've
> passed
> the RPT written exam), and have been tuning professionally for a year
> and a
> half.  I've applied to North Bennet St. for this fall.
>
> I was just asked to take care of an S&S D for a local community 
> college.
> It's 1917 vintage (played by Rachmaninoff at one time!), and rebuilt by
> Steinway about ten years ago.  It's suffering from humidity damage: 8"
> crack
> in the soundboard behind and under the treble bridge and elsewhere,
> false
> beats in the low tenor (loose bridge pins?), and loose tuning pins in
> the
> bass.  One or two are so loose I was tempted to mute them, for fear 
> they
> wouldn't survive a concert.
>
> Of the needed repairs, the only one's I'm qualified to do are to CA the
> loose pins, which I've done successfully three times previously.  I'll
> happily do this on someone's no-name, 100-year-old, 4'8" neonatal grand
> with
> rusty strings, but I want to ask for advice before doing anything
> irreversible to an instrument of this caliber.  I can do the repair
> without
> side effects, I'm sure (I pull the action and use copious amounts of
> plastic
> tarps), but still...
>
> Is the right thing to do to simply write up a report and say that it
> needs a
> new pinblock, bridge cap, and at least epoxy in the soundboard cracks?
> Or
> let Steinway re-evaluate it?  Is it better to pull the loose pins and
> shim
> with sandpaper or veneer rather than risking CA?  Will Steinway scoff 
> if
> they get a CA'd pinblock to replace?
>
> Side note: it has a disassembled DC system... sigh...
>
> --Cy Shuster--
> Bluefield, WV
>
>
>
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Jeff Tanner, RPT
School Of Music
University of South Carolina