[CAUT] Mythbusters

David Ilvedson ilvey at sbcglobal.net
Wed Mar 10 22:17:49 MST 2010


My art work of VV wasn't how I understood the tip...sorry

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "David Ilvedson" <ilvey at sbcglobal.net>
To: caut at ptg.org
Received: 3/10/2010 9:14:54 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters


>I liked Steve Brady's bedding technique where the end glides were done last...but I'll 
>give his way a try this Saturday...
>Very good ideas, especially the fallboard and keyslip for let-off/drop.   I'm assuming 
>he set samples in the piano...he set 2 felt mutes side by side...VV and glued the top 
>parts together?   Great tips...I'm going to try them all...

>David Ilvedson, RPT
>Pacifica, CA  94044

>----- Original message ----------------------------------------
>From: "Greg Granoff" <Gregory.Granoff at humboldt.edu>
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Received: 3/10/2010 1:42:42 PM
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters


>>Thanks Ted for the grit series correction--I had a feeling I'd missed
>>something.....
>>You might remember that he also said he never lubes balance rail pins after
>>cleaning--doesn't want any residues in the balance rail hole.  He does lube
>>front rail pins though.
>>Nice job of describing his piano-top hammer line, let off and drop
>>adjustment technique....I almost forgot about the key slip on top of the
>>flanges.  Speak up if you remember anything else.

>>Greg

>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
>>Kidwell, Ted W
>>Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:56 PM
>>To: caut at ptg.org
>>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

>>Greg is doing a great job of describing this daylong concert prep. Just one
>>thing- for hammer shaping he started with an 80 grit strip and spent the
>>most time with that getting the shape just right. Then he jumped up to 320
>>grit and went from there.

>>There were a few other things that struck me in the demo. 

>>1. He very thoroughly cleans the key pins with a cotton cloth wetted with
>>what he called "methylated alcohol". I took that to mean denatured alcohol.
>>He used a shoeshine motion.
>>2. He stuck a strip of newspaper under the end glide bolts and clamped down
>>the ends of the key frame. He adjusted the bolts so the paper slides out
>>with a little resistance but does not tear. To check the other bolts he
>>lifts and knocks at the same time and talked about how easy it is to get
>>fooled using other tests.
>>3. He put the action on top of the piano and set the fallboard up behind it
>>resting on its hinge side. He set the keyslip on top of the hammer flanges.
>>Now he had a black foreground and background and white hammers coming up in
>>between. He used this set up for hammerline, and fine tuning the letoff and
>>drop. Very clear and easy to see slight differences.
>>4. He glued two felt mutes together side to side to form a split mute. He
>>uses this during voicing to very quickly isolate any one string of a
>>trichord.

>>Great class.




>>Ted Kidwell, RPT
>>California State University, Sacramento
>>Capistrano Hall, rm. 153
>>6000 J Street
>>Sacramento, CA 95819-6015
>>916.278.6737
>> 
>> 


>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Greg
>>Granoff
>>Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 11:02 AM
>>To: caut at ptg.org
>>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

>>He uses teflon tape backed strips of diamond grit paper only just as wide as
>>an individual hammer.
>>He begins with around 320 I think he said, graduates to maybe 600 if he
>>feels it necessary, and finishes off with 1200.  Obviously, the procedure
>>might eliminate the coarsest grit if it wasn't necessary to actually reshape
>>significantly. In the class, he began by making a very small change in the
>>shape of the hammer, eliminating a slight bulge in the shoulders facing the
>>keyboard that made a slightly asymmetrical look. He holds the strip against
>>the hammer shoulder to index the strip's horizontal angle for a straight
>>striking point.  Later, if he is fine mating hammers to strings, he has even
>>narrower strips to make the change he needs on one string position at a
>>time. He finds these problems with the method of lifting the hammer/shank to
>>the string with a hook, and plucking with a tapered hammer shank. He says he
>>never files through the strings for mating, since he is fanatical about
>>keeping the correct shape on the "nose" of the hammer, as he called it, and
>>his strip method lets him do this. 

>>Greg

>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
>>Sturm
>>Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 9:24 AM
>>To: caut at ptg.org
>>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Mythbusters

>>On Mar 8, 2010, at 3:13 PM, Greg Granoff wrote:

>>> 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.


>>How does he file? Paddle? Strip?
>>Regards,
>>Fred Sturm
>>University of New Mexico
>>fssturm at unm.edu



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