I had this happen years ago....I could have sworn that the buzz was from the piano...It was a loose screw on an electrical outlet behind the piano!! Took an hour and a half to figure that one out! Same thing in a practice room here at UNL....I replaced a broken string...the culpret was the broken string in the garbage can (metal) but only buzzed on a certain note, making me think of a loose rib or paperclip, etc. Look at every option. My favorite mechanic in the world once told me; "look for the cheapest fix first, and then go from there!" Of course, I used to drive "old beaters" then....(some days, I figured I drove for a living and then stopped once in awhile to make gas money!!) <G> Let us know what it is! Paul wimblees at aol.com Sent by: caut-bounces at ptg.org 02/25/2009 12:06 PM Please respond to caut at ptg.org To caut at ptg.org cc Subject Re: [CAUT] Kawai GE3 mystery buzz Richard Start looking away from the piano. The buzz might sound like it's coming from the piano, but it's really coming from a nick knack on a shelve, or heating grate, or pencils sitting in a cup on the desk, and then amplified by the soundboard. It sounds crazy but that's how I've been able to eliminate quite a few strange sounds. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician Mililani, Oahu, HI 808-349-2943 Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com -----Original Message----- From: Richard Adkins <RADKINS at coe.edu> To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 4:39 am Subject: Re: [CAUT] Kawai GE3 mystery buzz I'll bet one of your Kawai experts can help me with a myster buzz around C6. Well, it is ON C6, but also a few notes above and a few notes below. To me, is sounds like a buzz from a crack but it might be described as a kazoo sound....but not papery, exactly. I'm told it has done this for quite a while, but they never mentioned it to me until this week! I've never heard it when I tune. I spent about 1.5hrs trying to track it down. I have tightend all screws on the entire piano, including the lid, etc. Most were very tight, and only a few were slightly not tight. I air blew the board incase there might be a paperclip under the plate, etc. NOPE...not there. You can hear the buzz from under the piano, but it is loudest in the area around C6 above the piano. It is either around/near the capo, but sounds like the board. I tried the bridge pins....nope, the front and back "duplexes". NOPE.... The backs are muted by felt, anyhow. I tried: the strings near the tuning pins. Seating strings to bridge. Muting off duplexes. I tightened the damper guide rail screws...but also tried pressing said rail when playing the buzzing notes... NOPE.... Yes, I removed the music rack, tested the prop sticks, and hinges, prop stick cups, too... nope.... I tested the damper tray, the sustenuto lever and the lever jack. NOPE I tested the pedal lyre holding rods, nope....all the trap springs are muted with felt...nope.... As I said all the screws were tightened, including the action screws, the damper stop rail, the damper tray screws, the damper lever flange screws etc. Every screw I could find, I tested to be sure it was tight enough, including screws in the keybed. I tested the bridge pins, front and back....NOPE....seated strings front and back, too...NOPE.... I reshaped C6, did some shoulder voicing... NOPE.... Nothing I'm doing seems to work. Maybe it is coming from the capo bar? If there's bleed through, how come it doesn't go away if I mute it off? There are no cracks in the board, and the bridge seems to be securely glued. I did not feel any buzzing from under the board when pressing the ribs, they all seem to be glued properly. But it is hard to get in there all the way. I tried damping the board with my fingers, but that didn't do anything. I thought I might try lifting the strings on both sides of the capo bar. That's about the only thing I didn't do. De-tuning the unisons did not work to eliminate this buzz/fuzz either. Why does it sound like it's the board? or something under the plate near the front duplexes? I believe it is still under warranty. Ser# 2328919 (1998) but just barely! If you have some ideas, I'd appreciate your help, it is driving the profs nuts....and me, too, since I'm the one who has to find/fix it. I'd like to turn this nope to a yup! Thanks, Richard Adkins Coe College Music Dept. A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut_ptg.org/attachments/20090225/8ac1c306/attachment.html>
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