tuning pins

[Wimblees@aol.com]

Mr Barlett & Steve

>1. Until a couple of years ago I assumed that new pianos have 2/0 tuning
>pins. but I began discovering otherwise--pianos having 4/0 pins which,
>judging from serial number, inspection, and customer comments, seem to
>have been sold that way new. Finding this situation no longer surprises
>me. Any comments regarding this, please?

I don't know of any manufacturere that pins with 4/0 pins, European pianos
pin with 1/0.
If a customer bought a "new" piano with 4/0, I would question the
salesperson/sdealer.

>2. If you were appraising a piano, or if you were offering to buy it
>yourself, would you assign it a lower monetary value simply because it had
>oversize pins?

That depends on the quality of the job, and the purpose of the repinning. If
it was an excellent job, and the reason it was repinned had nothing to do
with a cracked pin block, the value would be higher than if it had not been
repinned. On the other hand, if the pin block does have seperations,and the
repinning was a "stop gap measure", to buy the piano some more time, then it
would lower the appraised value.


>3. Regarding the pins specially cut with a burr to the thread, so that
>they will turn easier one way than the other, or something like that: has
>anyone reason to suspect that they might harm the pinblock, i.e., by
>abrading it over repeated tunings?
>

It would harm the pin block if the tunings were far and few between and the
pins had to be turned a lot each time. In my opinion, pins are not turned
that much during a "normal" tuning to cause the pin block enough wear to
cause any problems.


>ps: here is my list (or most of it) to date, of such pianos I've found:
>	Steinway B #480471
>	"	   #525174
>	"	L  #521100
>	"	M  #511454
>	" vertical #395332
>	Baldwin M  #275980
>	Kawai GS30 1661513

Are thes pianos with burred pins, or 4/0 pins?


>unquote
>
>	Mr. Bartlett and I both thank you. Please consider your replies as
>possible Journal material.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Steve Brady, RPT
>University of Washington
>Seattle, WA