Taming the 1098

[Z! Reinhardt]

I love 1098s!!!  Although I admit I am very curious what Del could do with
one when given the opportunity and necessary funds to work his magic. 
Meanwhile I have to do what I can with what I have in my customer base.

One of my customers said she like the way I treated hers, because I treated
it like a horse (she raises horses).  I was the 4th or 5th technician to
grapple with it in 1994, and yes, it tried throwing me off the bench at
every turn until I figured out how to sweet-talk it.

Sweet-talk it is.  In pitch correction work, use less overpull than you
normally would on other pianos and really concentrate on the setting of the
pin and string, moreso than on a pitch correction on another piano, but not
as much as you would on a fine tuning.  It's a hard feeling to describe,
but it's that point when you sense that the string tension has been
equalized by hammer technique alone.  Sure, this adds to the amount of time
it takes to do a pitch correction pass, but it also makes it less liable to
"go rubbery" on successive passes.  My gut sense dictates that pitch
correction passes should be done at an even pace for the best results -- no
potty breaks or whatever until the pass has been done in its entirety,
unisons and all.

Yes, I have vastly better results with an impact hammer than with a
standard hammer.  It did take awhile for me to learn just what the impact
hammer was capable of doing and how its behavior feels in my hand.  It was
all a part of developing the sense of when the string is at an equilibrium
with itself.

Hmmm, looking at my files, I see that 4 of those 1098s are due for service
within the next 6 weeks.  I'll try to concentrate on how best to describe
what I'm doing next time I service one of these, should anyone still be
interested in reading about it......

Any more questions?  Comments?
ZR!  RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net

----------
> From: RIrvingbas <RIrvingbas@aol.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re:  Hammer techniques
> Date: Tuesday, April 14, 1998 9:59 PM
> 
> Hi list,
> 
>How in the heck does one rassle a 1098 into submission?
> What are your favorite tricks for taming this beast?