Decker Bros 11970, would you???

Carl Root rootfamily@erols.com
Tue, 28 Apr 1998 21:21:38 -0400


Guy, Karen, and Tor Nichols wrote:
>        Would you raise the pitch?
> 
This is an important issue, in part because so many in our professional
would routinely leave it flat, along with a lot of other less risky
ones.

The first thing I look for is evidence of someone else's failed
attempt.  Any broken or replaced strings?  The second is to pull up
samples from each section of the piano, say all the Cs.  Not all the way
the first time.  Just get a sense of how brittle the wire is.  Normally,
I don't like to pull a piano part way, but on something this old, as
indicated by the open pin panel, I would be very cautious.  This user
might not care at all about standard pitch, but what about the next
user?  If the piano is on it's last legs, maybe just leave it where it
is, but if there's even a remote possiblility that standard pitch could
matter during the lifetime of this piano, at least explore the
possibilities.

Carl

Oh yes, check the bridges.  A plate broke once when I raised pitch but
failed to notice a metal bridge cap replacement.  I forget what they're
called, but it increased downbearing  waaaaaaaay beyond specs.  Less
than a week later, the piano went BANG in the night.


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