List - I have tuned a Lester studio (1950's vintage) at several-year intervals, starting in 1983. The first visit, I raised the treble from 1/4 to 1/2 tone; on the next three visits I found the treble had gone back down considerably. My notes for the 1992 visit are that I found a crack in the plate and lowered the rest of the piano 1/4 tone to match, hoping to save the instrument from destruction. In my experience Lesters are more prone than most to broken plates. The subsequent two tunings, however, I found the piano had stabilized and was holding reasonably well. Two days ago I was back and this time had to remove the action to replace some plastic damper flanges. Search as I would, I could not find any crack in the plate. There was an area of the strut between tenor and treble (where I vaguely remember seeing a crack) that had paint peeling off, but no crack I could find. I am looking for some explanation. My suggestions are 1. Shining the flashlight down from the top, perhaps the chipped paint area looked like a crack; but why would lowering the pitch stabilize the piano? 2. Perhaps the pin block is pulling away from the back posts (hidden by the decorative strip on top) 3. The technician is cracked. Some 20 odd years ago, I tuned a Baldwin "console" (big spinet - drop action) for a teacher and had to raise it a half tone. For several years it held well between yearly tunings, and then it began to go out drastically in the treble. There was a well-defined crack perpendicular to the strut. Another technician bought it, pulled the plate, had it welded and anchored the loose nose bolt behind the strut, and has used the piano for several years as a rental instrument. Bill Maxim, RPT
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