[CAUT] existing pinblock prep

[Paul T Williams]

Eric,

Why did the D need so many restringings in only 9 years? Was there a 
string breaking problem or is it played to death?

Paul




"Wolfley, Eric (wolfleel)" <WOLFLEEL at ucmail.uc.edu> 
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07/24/2008 10:31 PM
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Paul,
 
I’ve never restrung a whole piano more than once using this method but 
just finished restringing the top 2 capo sections on one of our Steinway 
Ds in our main recital hall for the 3rd time since the piano was new 9 
years ago. That makes 4 stringings on those pins counting the original 
one. The pins are still plenty tight and they still look good. There are 
numerous practice room pianos here that have received this treatment 
multiple times as well. The method I independently arrived at is virtually 
identical to Fred’s though I will add that in addition to getting all the 
becket holes aligned advantageously, I make sure the pins are all at the 
same height before putting the new coils on. A lot of them get high or low 
because of the various string splicing operations done before restringing. 
While the strings are off I clean everything thoroughly, lightly resurface 
the capo bar, super-glue the bridge pins (without removing them) with Zap 
a Gap to fill any hairline cracks and loose pin holes, string, pull to 
pitch, level the strings, resurface the hammers, space and refit the 
hammers to the strings. I’ve done this to 2 pianos this week and each job 
took 6 hours. Most of the pesky extraneous string-noise goes away and the 
pitch stabilizes very quickly if you make sure everything is seated and 
pounded in. It’s a great way to get the concert pianos prepped and 
sounding great  for a new season, plus you don’t need to worry about 
string breakage for a while. I really think the new strings sound better 
as well…
 
Eric
 
Eric Wolfley, RPT
Director of Piano Services
College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul 
T Williams
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:49 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] existing pinblock prep
 

Fred, 

Can you do this two times?  Just trying to save a buck on practice 
rooms.... 

It makes a lot of sense to do this one time, but have you experimented 
twice with the same pins given good torque?  Now with the old pins, are 
you concerned at all with the appearance of the new job?  Restringing 
looks nice, but if the older pins are dingy or even rusty looking, do you 
proceed with this? I've not been here long enough to see, so I'm 
interested in what you've seen in your years.  Of course, practice rooms 
are not the best looking of beasts, but it still is important to keep them 
looking somewhat decent.   

What say you? 

Paul 




David Brown <dcbrown5 at exchange.asu.edu> 
Sent by: caut-bounces at ptg.org 
07/24/2008 07:38 PM 


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Fred and all-

Thanks for clarifying that for me. This was originally posted and replied 
to by self admitted low volume restorers who , in my thinking , would not 
be as quick as one might be after having done several without removing the 
pins. Your tips for that are a great help.

Regards-

David

On Jul 24, 2008, at 3:33 PM, Rick Florence wrote:

> Obviously, there is a time to keep the existing pins, which explains
> David's qualifying statement "This doesn't address stringing on the
> original pins."

Yes, noted, and the post was a good one on the subject of evening out 
torque. But the full statement was:

"This doesn’t address stringing on the original pins. That is an 
option if you are comfortable with the extra effort and time."

In my experience, there really isn't extra effort and time involved. 
Granted, you need to learn and hone new procedures, but with several 
under my belt, I find that I probably save time, and perhaps effort as 
well. It is a little more time consuming to get strings off and on, 
but I have saved the time and effort removing pins. And the cost of 
the pins. And any work on the holes. And I have saved time replacing a 
block down the road (even if it happens after I retire <G>).
   I should say I have developed a few procedures that speed things up. 
I use a sharpened needle nose to remove coils (it gets between the pin 
and the becket bend, and grabs the becket, pulls it out of the hole, 
and pulls the wire off the pin). And I always go through all the pins 
once the strings are off and standardize the angle of the becket holes 
so they are all the same, so I don't have to go hunting. Little things 
like that, and it goes quite smoothly.


Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu


David C. Brown 
Arizona State University
School of Music
Piano Technician
1-480-965-6760
david.c.brown.2 at asu.edu

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