callback - I should have seen this sooner!

[btrout@desupernet.net]

Hi Ron,

Leave it to super glue!  It slices, it dices, it does julian fries... oops
wrong commercial...

I had one something sorta similar yesterday.  A Knabe grand with one key
that sometimes wouldn't play.  Surprised me when I pulled the action to see
a broken whippen.  Never had that one before, and the thing that got me, it
still played, not well, but it still played!  A layer of CA and some
accelerator, and 20 seconds, and we were back in business.

Here's another one for you.  On a Baldwin Acro. (about a year old)... went
to tune, and guy says that daughter noticed a 'click' in the sustain pedal.
I looked, didn't see anything, checked the pedal regulation, travel... the
whole works, didn't find a thing wrong.  Proceed to tune the piano.  About
3/4 of the way through, daughter comes home from school.  I ask her to
demonstrate the 'click'.  She sits down to the piano, presses the pedal
down, 'click', 'click', 'click'...  I noticed she pushed the pedal All the
way down.  So I thanked her and proceeded to finish the tuning.  When I
looked underneath, I was thinking..."It's probably a loose bottom
board...maybe I can figure out a way to shut this thing up..."  So I get out
my trusty flashlight and take a good look.  There's a little stick about 6
inches long with a piece of felt running across the top just under the
pedals and all the way front.  Baldwin is in the habit of using 'sticky'
type things, kind of like double stick tape, where they just stick it fast
and that's that.  Well, they used their 'stickum' on the bottom of this
little part to stick it to the bottom board.  That's what was 'clicking'.
When she pressed down and let up the pedal, it was moving this thing enough
that it was sticking...unsticking...sticking...unsticking on the one end.
Shazam!  Well, a little sliver of veneer and a little wood glue... no more
click.

Thought you might enjoy.

Best wishes,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, Pa.

Ron Koval wrote:

> Hi everyone-
>
> Had a callback this week on a Baldwin grand.  Had been there to tune and
> fix a 'clunking' key.  One key blocking, let-off dowel seemed loose, but
> just out of adjustment.  Adjusted, tested and tuned, all seemed o.k.
>
> Two days later . . .  the callback, same key, same sound.  Yup, you
> guessed it, a cracked, but not broken jack.  Well live and learn.
>
> A little CA glue, some accelerator, and back in business!
>
> Check those jacks!
>
> Ron Koval
> Chicagoland
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com