[CAUT] Yamaha CFIIIS

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Bill,
              The new CF111 hammers I have been told are Wurzen felt, and 
are a pleasure to work with.  Not like the rock hard hammers of years gone 
by.  Just make sure you are ordering the new hammers, there are two 
different part numbers. Too easy for the parts department to ship old stock 
to suit your serial number.  I have found the new ones a lot more stable.
Much like working on Renner blues.

Regards Roger




At 08:49 PM 3/22/2010, you wrote:
>Hi Paul,
>
>I am not sure of the angle of the hammers of the CFlll but I will throw in 
>a thought or two. The local Yamaha dealer was part of the concert and 
>artist program with Yamaha and had a CFlll for about five or six years. 
>When it first came in, it lacked any personality. After some serious 
>voicing, I finally got the piano to come to life. I had found that this 
>piano needed a lot of constant voicing to keep this tone that many loved. 
>I had gotten the bid to rebuild a Mason & Hamlin CC for a concert hall in 
>a city about 40 miles from my shop. The concert hall rented the CFlll 
>while I was working on the Mason. One of the artists that used the CFlll 
>stated four times during the performance that this was the best piano he 
>had every played. Several months after the Mason was returned the CFlll 
>was used by Andre Watts in Fort Wayne. A friend of mine went to the 
>concert and said the piano sounded horrible and that the local paper 
>stated how the poor tone o f the piano almost ruined the concert. When the 
>CFlll came back, I could see what they meant. It was an entirely different 
>piano. After a lot of work I finally got it back to where it was again. 
>The piano was sold to a couple whose husband is Japanese and they were 
>transferred back to Japan. The wife came back to Findlay and called me to 
>tune her mother's piano. She said that the piano tech in Japan said that 
>her piano was not right and changed the voicing. She said that she hardly 
>plays the CFlll any more because it sounds so bad. From what few techs 
>that I have talked to that have serviced CFllls, this seems to be the weak 
>point of the CFlll. They are great when new but need constant attention to 
>the voicing, I would see if there is any way that you could get the 
>university to get money for some Able Select or Able Special Press 
>hammers. They would help give a sound that you would never think the CFlll 
>would have. I have put these on some very good pianos and have found th at 
>they give a much better tone than I was every able to get from these 
>pianos before including Steinways. I put them on two Bechstein ENs at Ohio 
>Northern University and was told by two visiting artist from one of the 
>all Steinway schools who said that they would prefer the Bechsteins over 
>their new Ds. We never had any compliments on those pianos before I put 
>the Able Selects on them.
>
>Bill Balmer  RPT,
>Ohio Northern University and the University of Findlay
>
>
>
>In a message dated 03/22/10 11:05:58 US Eastern Standard Time, 
>dempsey at marshall.edu writes:
>All,
>
>We have a Yamaha CFIIIS that was purchased in 2004. When it arrived, 
>everyone, and I mean everyone (Students, faculty, and guests), forsook the 
>42 year old Steinway D that it shares the stage with in favor of the new, 
>"shiny" piano.
>
>Slowly but surely they all came back to the Steinway. Reasons varied, but 
>the common thread was that the Yamaha lacked the power of the S&S, and had 
>no "personality" so the CFIII was orphaned  in favor of the D. A tech from 
>Yamaha visited and spent two days with the piano but everyone still goes 
>with the old piano.
>
>So, we are in spring break and I have some time to devote to the 
>Yamaha-reshape hammers, reg and lube, mate strings and voice. You know the 
>drill.
>
>I am noticing that the hammers are hung with a slight distal angle (about 
>3 degrees)
>
>Is this normal for the CFIII? Also, looking at the string impressions in 
>the strike point (they aren't too bad really), it appears that the hammers 
>are ve ry slightly over centering.
>
>Is the 3 degree bore angle correct? I guess I need to confirm the proper 
>bore distance too. There is no $$$ for new hammers.
>
>Thoughts?
>
>
>
>Paul E. Dempsey, RPT
>Piano Technician Sr.
>Marshall University
>Huntington, WV
>304-696-5418
>304-617-1149
>
>
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