[CAUT] Mythbusters

[Greg Granoff]

David,
It was very enlightening to see the overall philosophy of his approach to
concert prep.  I would say it boils down to Teutonic thoroughness of detail
with totally basic, foundational things.  It went from cleaning the entire
key frame and key pins, polishing capstans, easing balance holes and bedding
said frame, through hammer filing and all regulation procedures to final
detailed voicing of individual notes-- nothing revolutionary--just
obsessively thorough and detailed.  It took him literally all day, and he
kept working through the breaks.  I think it's important to remember that he
has total control over how the performance piano fleet he oversees in the UK
gets used and who services it, and there is a built in assumption that these
instruments are basically in excellent shape, but like race horses are only
at their very best when constantly attended to.  He's a bit removed from
some of the stuff we deal with in CAUT land; someone asked him how he would
remove a stain from a soundboard.  He winced and remarked that such things
just don't occur to his pianos.  In fact, he admitted he generally doesn't
concern himself with pianos in educational institutions as they are used too
heavily and quickly lose their edge, he felt.
For me, it was extremely useful to see his hammer filing technique (he never
gang-files) and the materials he used, and he kept up a running commentary
as he worked, crisply answering questions in a careful but efficient
Germanic way without ever losing momentum.  Very interesting also to hear
his views on how long the service life of one of his D's or C's is and when
he considers them past their prime (read: ready for private ownership or off
to an institution) despite obsessive servicing.  About 10 years at very
most, I believe he said.
It reinforced my appreciation of the importance of foundational procedures,
and gave me a renewed sense of purpose, which we all need once in a while, I
guess.  He spoke of many things as he worked; if you have a particular area
you are curious about, I'll try to remember what he said.

On a side note, he spoke of the PTG with appreciation and respect,
indicating that he thought the British counterpart organization didn't have
a clue. He also thinks American techs have it all over their Brit
counterparts in the variety and sophistication of the various lubricants we
use.  He thinks Pro-lube and Protek are excellent, and relegates Ballistol
to areas outside the action.  

Greg

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David
Ilvedson
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:35 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

I really wanted to see Ulrich's class, but too busy... '-[   Can you give us
some input in what you thought was particularly useful?

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Greg Granoff" <Gregory.Granoff at humboldt.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Received: 3/8/2010 11:14:24 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters


>This just in--- at the Pacific NW and Western Regional conference just
ended
>in Bellevue Washington, Ulrich Gerhart of UK Steinway operations was asked
>during his day long concert prep demo about that (sost rod and abandoning
>the NY mounting style at long last) and his answer was a cryptic "stay
>tuned".........

>Greg Granoff
>HSU 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ron
>Nossaman
>Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 10:08 AM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

>reggaepass at aol.com wrote:

>> Seeing these two points consecutively begs another question: Whoever 
>> thought up mounting the sostenuto rod on the action brackets; if it's 
>> such a great idea, why don't others do it (including Steinways made in 
>> Hamburg); 

>An excellent question. Why is everyone so eager to copy tuned 
>duplexes, but not an action mounted sostenuto - including...?


>and there plans to unify sos. rod location between the two
>> Steinway factories?

>Each is quite willing for the other to follow their superior 
>example. <G>
>Ron N