[CAUT] Care and feeding of stage grands

[Fred Sturm]

I do lacquer touch up regularly - black lacquer and an artist brush  
(we don't have any Poly). Small brush, very short bristles, for good  
control. Essentially I make the bare wood black, applying just enough  
material for the purpose. At some point (every couple years), I do a  
bit of wool waxing, which may include some wet sanding if there is too  
much surface variance from touchup buildup. But just applying the  
black lacquer makes the pianos look a LOT better from the audience.  
Costs no more than a quart of lacquer from the auto parts store and 10  
to 15 minutes of my time once or twice a year.
	Lids I haven't had too much trouble with. Our hall managers have been  
good about instructing their student help (after getting instruction  
from me). I have them place padding between the hinge sections (lid  
and rim) and the positioning pin immediately after removing the pins,  
and reverse procedure when replacing. And they aren't TOO bad about  
keeping the inside of the covers folded inside (I explain that the  
cover isn't there to look pretty itself, it's there to keep the piano  
pretty. Let it get all dusty and grimy, rather than pick up dust and  
grime and transfer to the piano. Better yet, never throw it on the  
floor <G>).
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu



On Jan 18, 2008, at 8:00 PM, Kent Swafford wrote:

> I have a couple questions about maintaining concert pianos on stages  
> at universities.
>
> 1) Do you have a policy about the touch-up of finish damage? I would  
> think a good-looking piano would generate more respect and care than  
> a beat-up one.  (Although I didn't think that the time a couple  
> years ago when we had a D refinished and the first week-end it was  
> back in service, it received more damage than it had before being  
> refinished. I still haven't recovered from that one.) Does anyone  
> touch-up as needed? Or perhaps annually? Never?
>
> 2) Do you have a policy on removing lids? It seems like every  
> recording project, every duo-piano performance, every large ensemble  
> performance requires the lid to be removed. There is also a history  
> of damage being done while removing and replacing grand piano lids.
>
> Sure would like to know what various schools do. Thanks.
>
>
> Kent Swafford
>