Cracked plates

[Tunrboy@aol.com]

 My question
to those of you who have seen more cracks is: is the crack always very
obvious?  In other words, if I am evaluating a piano for someone, should
I spend a good deal of time examining the plate for obvious cracks?
If one is at the piano when it cracks, is it immidiately apparent?

Randy,
My first experience with a cracked plate was a piano I now own.  I had tuned
it 6 months previous and noticed it was 40 cents flat again (this was when I
had an SAT).  I pitch raised it and while I wandered into the high treble I
noticed a hairline crack in a strut.  I finished the pitch raise and tuning,
shut my mouth and left (piano was still under warranty).  I immediately
called Kawai and Ray Chandler (he lives here in town) came down to look at
it.  Had that crack not been directly in front of my eyes, I would have
missed it.
In fact, we may all be tuning pianos day to day that have microfissures and
some-such cracks in them.  Whether the piano was 40 cents flat because of a
crack or because of its youth, I don't know.  I am willing to bet that this
is not an isolated case and more than a few pianos which we service have some
sort of structural flaws which do not lend themselves to the naked eye.

Eric Leatha
tunrboy@aol.com