Questions about worn pinblock

[btrout@desupernet.net]

Hi Ron,

I'm just one voice in a sea of many, but I'll offer my suggestions.

Some of what gets done will likely have a budget attached.  (Don't most jobs?)  Your mention of it being a 30 year old Hamilton studio does kind of narrow the field of repairs, since they likely won't want to spend the price of a new one (or more) to fix up their old one.

Something else that needs to be considered are the other parts of the piano.  Is it worth putting some money in, and if so, how much.  In other words, how are the hammers, and dampers, and key bushings, and is the action in need of a lot of repining, or new bridle straps.  How's the soundboard and bridges and for that matter, how's the case doing?  I know, it sounds
a little odd to ask when your question was about loose tuning pins, but if a lot of the other parts of the piano are not doing so well either, maybe this isn't the piano to spend money on.  If other than the pinblock is in excellent shape, maybe this piano may be worth putting some bucks into.  It's all relative.

A complete rebuild with a new pinblock, new strings, and maybe bridge work? (while you're in there...) is probably going to be more than they'll want to spend.  (I know I wouldn't want to go that far normally, but if it's an exceptional instrument...)

One option you didn't mention, was tapping the pins a little deeper into the pinblock.  I'm not sure if they are already tapped all the way in or not, but I would suspect that if this was an option, it's probably already been done.

The super glue is an option.  There are those who post here regularly who could probably give you a better idea of just how long a repair of this nature would hold.  (Yes, you can do it so that you can tune it afterwards... not to worry.)  It would be a fairly inexpensive repair, and would be worthy of consideration, again, depending upon the budget.

A more costly repair, but not unheard of, would be to repin it.  (Take out all of the old tuning pins, and put in bigger ones.)  You wouldn't have to restring it, but could, again, depending upon the budget.  You may want to restring the wound strings.  It would be an easy time to do it, and since it's 30 years old, it's probably time anyway...  We've done several in
our shop (repining using the old strings), and if we keep moving, we can do one in about 8-10 hours.

Another option, and I hope I don't ruffle too many feathers here, might be to trade it in on another piano in better condition.  Perhaps a dealer would take said piano and do the needed repairs as for resale.  (I know, it sounds like a bit of a cop out, but sometimes it can be easier for a piano owner to make a clean break, and start over, not having quite the same
set of expectations with the new piano as what he may have if he put a 'pile of money' into his old one.)

So there are a number of options available, and maybe even a few I didn't mention.  A lot depends upon the budget, and the expectations of the people who play the piano.

I'll be anxious to see the responses of others.  Again, I'm just one voice.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

Best wishes,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, Pa.

Ron Berry wrote:

> To the List:
> I got this question from a surfer on the piano page. I have given him my views of this situation and offered to send this topic to the list, which he decided he would like me to do. He was also concerned about using the old strings or replacing them. He has gotten 2 differing views about this. (It's never a problem to get differing views among piano technicians).
>
> I thought I would throw this out to the list for your views and I will make sure that he gets the responses.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ron
>
> ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
> From: "Darrel B. Schultz" <academy@idcomm.com>
> To: <info@ptg.org>
> Subject: Questions about worn pinblock
> Date sent: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 00:42:00 -0700
>
> To whom it may concern:
> Recently my piano tuner informed me that my piano could no longer be expected to hold a tune because the pins were too loose in the pinblock. He suggested a technique whereby superglue would be injected into the pinblock to hold the pins in position. My questions are as follows:
> Is this a technique about which the guild knows and approves?
> Can the piano be successfully tuned thereafter? It seems to me that once glued, the pins could never again be turned.
> What are some of my other repair options? The piano is a Hamilton studio console, about 30 years old.
> Thanks for your reply.
> Darrel Schultz
> comm.com"academy@idcomm.com
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ron Berry, RPT, Indianapolis, IN ronberry@iquest.net Check out the Piano Page at: http://www.ptg.org/ for great information about Pianos