Ronnie Mil-SAP

[A440A@aol.com]

James writes:
<<to perform and make money from.

Regardless of the reason, there is no excuse to screw up the piano.>>

     Umm,  something to consider here.  I don't know about smashing dampers,
but  that may actually have been one lousy tuning.  For the sake of a standard
here, let me say that Ronnie is perfectly happy with a straight, unmodified
FAC tuning on his piano at home, and at the studio.    

     for the last decade,Ronnie has toured with his own C7. Has its own crate,
and is the nicest looking road piano I have seen.  He plays the top octave
with his boot-heel as a part of his act. He also climbs up on top of the piano
in the finale(there are protective mats). The crowd goes nuts!!  This is show
business, remember, not a display of how long we can keep the equipment
intact.  (You ever see what happens to sprint-car engines?) I do remember his
manager saying once that somehow, the top was not closed , and when Ronnie
took his leap up on the piano, he landed on the plate, etc.     
     The Yamaha piano he uses is fungible,  you can go get another one as
often as the budget requires it.  He is not tearing up an irreplacable part of
musical history.  In fact, he is not tearing up anything at all, just wearing
out hammers. 
     His top hammers have been changed several times, (not the C, because he
never played that high, said it would "scratch up the piano". ) Even though he
used this piano for three years,  there was no damage anywhere except the
front edge of the four keys  keys below C88,  keys with the old badddd looking
plastic that Yamaha has been replacing for free these days.......
    I have learned as much from Ronnie Milsap as I have from any of "my"
classical artists. Not only does he have great foot control, he has a touch
sensitivity that borders on insane, and his ability to hear is unmatched, in
my experience. 
      He was not happy with the letoff set at 1/16" across the piano,  he
wanted it set to just clear the string excursion area, and he WANTED TO TAKE
THIS PIANO OUT ON THE ROAD!! I regulated it that way, and showed his road tech
where the  letoff buttons were, just in case.  
   When the venue is professional performance, the equipment has to take
second place to artistic design,  that is just the way it is. ( I like it that
way, not only because I am the mechanic that services the equipment, but
because that boy can really rock on the piano......) 
Regards  from the Foote-stomped piano capitol of the universe
Ed