stability question

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 8/19/99 4:37:18 PM Pacific Daylight Time, you write:

<< Hi, List,   
 I am looking for some input on a small problem;   (snip)>>

Hi,

I saw your question late in the day and have read all of the other responses 
to it which have been excellent and correct in my opinion.

A few things about your post caught my eye.  The most important one was about 
"doping" the pins.  I doubt that you have a situation where the pin turning 
backwards of its own accord has anything to do with the stability problem.  
It is possible, yes and if that is really the problem, combining water thin 
CA treatment with driving the pins deeper would be a cost effective way of 
curing the problem for this kind of piano.

However, if the pins are tight enough for you to tune normally, they don't 
slip while you are tuning or jump low at the slightest touch, pinblock 
treatment is not indicated.  It will do no good whatsoever and may indeed 
cause adverse complications.  This is much like the tendency to over ease a 
key which is apparently "sticking" and having that do no good but in fact do 
some harm and not accomplish anything whatsoever in solving the problem.

You can help that church do the simple things which will make a difference, 
however.  Move the piano away from the heat vent and away from the door and 
away from any direct sunlight.  Get it to a place where the movement of air 
will be at an absolute minimum.

Put a cover on the back of the piano.  The kind of material that is used for 
string covers would be best but other kinds of material can help too.  
Whatever would keep air movement off the soundboard and might help contain 
the internal humidity of the piano might help.  If they can afford a piano 
cover, get one.  But you can be creative with that too.  Some of the 
congregation could make a quilt for it, for example.  If they don't want to 
cover the piano, do at least the back.

If they cannot afford a new, complete humidity control system, could they 
afford the dehumidifier and humidistat only?  Do you maybe have one of the 
old style humidistats that you could sell them at a low cost along with a 
good 50 watt dehumidifier?   You can save them money if you keep your profits 
low on new Dampp-Chaser products or sell them used ones at lower costs.

The scale design of that piano is such that it will naturally go out of tune 
in the low tenor very easily, with the slightest change of humidity.  
Therefore, you must do everything in your power to shield the piano from 
temperature and humidity fluctuations if you want to gain any measure of 
control over it.  As some of the others have suggested, what you have is a 
perfectly normal and even expected situation.  I have some Once-a-Month 
church customers who consider the piano being in tune to be very important 
and they pay for it.  They also have humidity control systems and covers for 
both the strings and the entire instrument.  The pianos do well once the 
season has set in but they too are challenged when that first big cold wave 
of winter or first humid heat wave of summer comes on.

If the church is not used much during the week in winter and they let the 
temperature go low, you will really not be needing moisture all that much.  
In such a case, the dehumidifier/humidistat combination might be all you need 
to keep the high moisture from the warm season from invading the piano.  
However, if the building is used daily in the winter and heated to the normal 
room temperature, you will most definitely need humidification, hence a 
complete system.

When you do your winter tuning, tighten all of the plate bolts you can reach. 
 It may even be a good idea if you can get the piano on a tip cart, remove 
the bottom board and tighten the plate bolts along the bottom of the cast 
iron frame as firmly as you can.  If there are any stripped bolt holes, you 
can fix them with thick CA glue so that they will hold the lag screw firmly.  
I say to do this in the winter because that will be the time when dryness has 
allowed everything to shrink and separate so it will be the most effective to 
do your tightening then.  This is also the best time to tighten up action 
screws for the same reasons.

I am now trying to do something about all the 30 cent sharp pianos in public 
places that will be 30 cents flat in February.  Yet, there are some pianos in 
the same kinds of environments which are under much better control.  The 
piano will still probably need to be tuned at least as frequently as it 
always has but you will probably be able to take a major edge off of the 
problem if you follow the advice I and the rest of the List have given you.

Good Luck,
Bill Bremmer RPT