query

[Les Smith]

On Wed, 11 Feb 1998, pianoman wrote:

> Hi all,
> 	I have a client with Steinway L #265752.  In the 70's it got restrung and
> new hammers and refinishing.  In the past number of years since then, the
> piano has seen less and less use and playing the piano now with the sustain
> is on everything moves r e a l l y 
>  s l o w.
> My question is,  Would the installation of a retrofit player system such as
> Pianomation, or Piano Disc used regularly be enough to get the piano
> working again and with consistent use of the player do you think this would
> satisfy the use requirements that it needs to get it going again and keep
> it going.?

In a word, Jim, NO! If you pull the action and test all the action centers
the way I described in my post on old Steinway uprights, you're probably
going to find that you're looking at a major case of Verdigris, aka "The
Greenies". In bad cases you can lift the hammers 45 dgress from their rest
position and they'll stay there, or drift back down very slowly. Likewise,
you'll find sluggish jacks, sluggish wippens, and in some extreme cases,
even sluggish repetition levers! Whoa, Dude!  When you examine the sides
of the flanges, where you should be able to see the end of the centerpin
sitting in the bushing, you'll discover it's covered with the dreaded
green waxy substance. Remove the flange altogether, and you'll see the
green stuff on the underside of the flange and on the action rail, too.
SOMETIMES, if the problem isn't too severe, you can get by repinning the
action centers and using Protek on them. Many times, however, this only
provides temporary relief, and the problem returns, indicating that other
approaches are going to have to be considered. You can't evaluate the
cause or severity of the problem without pulling the action and looking
at it closely. Also check the environment of the piano. If it's located
in an area where the humidity is high, that will only compound the prob-
lem. Offhand, it sounds like you could be looking at a major headache
here. The piano will never function properly as a player piano unless
it can function first as a stand-alone, hand-played piano. Make sure
you know what you're getting into before giving an estimate on this
job. You might want to keep a pair of those brown cords handy, just in
case! :)  Good luck.

Les Smith