Tim and Ron; It sounds as if you two are coming to a similar conclusion from opposite ends of the spectrum.....like rebuildings you both do :>) Remember that both your pianos all come out sounding and playing most excellently. <G> Who's better? that is in the ears of the beholder :>) Peace be with you both! Agraffe noises are annoying in any sense, and I think it comes down to who makes them, what their materials are and how much attention is given to them in the process. Now, do you both rehab existing, or replace...Every time? or sometimes? This is what started my questions on restringing, amongst other issues that have fallen by the way-side on this blog. I usually replace, but when the budget doesn't allow, use what's there. I agree that sometimes using the existing parts is the way to go with a rehab of sorts as that is what Steve Brady taught me to do (20 years ago while at Univ. of WA)....) The pianos I work on are getting quite old, so a 50-60-70 and even 80 year old grand might just need new parts like agraffes. There has got to be a life time to these things, eh? When do you call it quits, replace, or just use what's there? sure, I'd love to put a new soundboard, pinblock and bridges into every one of these old fellas, but I just can't. I have to make them go as long as possible with the least expense. Donations are getting fewer and fewer these days .We have no grand newer than 25-30 years old! Sure it's time to replace! Any doners out there?? All in the best for the piano. Paul From: Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net> To: caut at ptg.org Date: 08/06/2010 02:14 PM Subject: Re: [CAUT] When to Restring Tim Coates wrote: > I've had several pianos with noisy agraffes and the pianist could hear > them. After installing new or old cleaned up agraffes a very, very > pronounced "zinging" from one string can develop. The "zing" can come > and go or just won't go away. I've had a couple of noisy agraffes too through the years. >It has nothing to do with duplexes. I'm at least somewhat aware of the difference between duplexed capo sections of the scale and agraffed sections. I don't have the two confused. Whatever you believe you read, I most definitely didn't, and won't, blame agraffe noises on tuned duplexes, nor capo section noises on agraffes. I do know the difference, thanks. >It is not worth the cost to "not rebuild" the agraffes > (old or new). I've spent days having to repair them after the fact. I > am convinced what Paul teaches is vital. It's just that there are > quicker ways of doing the procedure that work just as well. But the > basic concept is correct as far as I am concerned. Since I have started > rebuilding the agraffes on all my rebuilds I have no "zinging" strings > attributed to agraffes. Perhaps it's a matter of who makes the agraffe? I've had good results with Pianotek's agraffes with no prep whatsoever. My rebuilds that have remained local haven't been a problem. With the belly work and rebuilds that go elsewhere, I rely on the local tech to inform me of anything they don't like, that I ought to be working on improving. If any of them have experienced noisy agraffes as a result of them not having been polished before installation, none of them have mentioned it yet. When it proves to be problem enough to spend the time, I'll add the appropriate cost to the agraffe job and do it. I have no problem with the concept I just don't realistically see the need unless the agraffes are lousy. > I do know what sounds a duplex can make and the sound from a "zinging" > agraffe is much different. Again, Ron, I appreciate all your work on > duplex noise. Thanks Tim, I appreciate that. But again, I know the difference between agraffes and duplexes as well. Ron N -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20100806/f29a112a/attachment.htm>
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