butt plate clips loose

[Bill Kidd]

Philip Jamison wrote:
> 
> I'm plagued by an Aeolian upright which has 2 broken tongues on the
> brass butt rail. These were repaired by the "T"-shaped clips and held
> for some years. For some reason, they now keep working themselves off
> (may be the new pianist; it's in a restaurant). I tried a little thick
> super glue; they held about 4 weeks. I thought to try soldering next,
> but feel the rail may just dissipate the heat. Any ideas short of
> replacing the rail?
> 
> Philip Jamison
> West Chester, PA

In my opinion, you are better off replacing the rail.  Unless Schaff has 
discontinued the service, they can make you a new rail from the sample 
that you send them.  You will do your customer and yourself a favor by 
replacing the rail because the old one is weak and will probably break 
more tongues in the near future if the new pianist has a heavy touch. I 
consider repair clips a temporary repair.  If you cut out a section and 
install a repair rail section you have damaged the old rail so that it 
cannot be duplicated later by yourself or another tech, which there will 
surely be if you dont do the job right the first time. By the way there 
are three rails, usually made from the same quality material.
Bill Kidd
Columbus, MS (In the sunny south)