Burndkrisp@AOL.COM wrote: > > List, I am a newbie to this wonderful world of piano tuning. I have read with > great interest the discussions on using C.A. glue to repair pin blocks. I tend > to think better using the letters SG instead of CA, because CA is to hard to > remember. (I too peel the lables off and put on a computer print out lable > that reads "S.G." It looks really proffessional & good.) > I have one older customer that has a Steinway "l" or "m", I can't remember. > Nice old couple, but the piano was horrible. It had been in S Florida for many > years according to the lady. A fella named "Mr. Ford" sold them this piano a > long time ago. Claimed it had a gold plate and they paid extra for it. Well, I > came to tune it and it had some really "funny" pins that I would tune and then > later come back and they were out of tune again. Not a lot but just enough to > put the piano out of tune again. I had to pull really hard on the tuning pin > to get it to move, but when it did move it jumped right up to pitch. After > three times through it was still falling short of the mark on my Korg digital > tuner. This is when the trouble started. > I had promised them I would get their piano right. I have set as my goal, > every piano tuned perfectly at 440. I figure that'll get me some work and it > did. They were real impressed when I showed them the needle on my tuner go > right to 440 when I turned the tuning pin. Well anyway, it being a Sunday and > all, I was tired after four hours and the d**m thing was still reading below > 440 on my tuner!!!!!! Well, now I wanted to get it right and leave and get > paid and all that. So I braved up and told them it would only be one more time > through and it would be right at 440. Now this is where I got really > professional and I told them that it won't hold a tuning anymore because the > pins won't hold their tune. I told them I would put some SG on the pins and > wait for a few minutes before I tuned it again. At this time the clock says it > 4 pm, so I figure I can put on a coat of this SG and wait about 20 minutes > (beer time!!) go back and tune it . Meantime I just smooze with the Mr. & Mrs. > and make big bucks while I wait. So I put the SG on the plate and watch it > soak in around the holes. Not all of it is going in though? Some of it stays > on the plate? I run out of the stuff around the mid treble and figure I'm > making good money now I should go to the model shop and get a bigger bottle > before it closes at 5. When I come back I decide to check on my work. I tune > the a to 440 again and this time the pin won't budge? Finally after a lot of > wiggling I get a pin to move but it breaks a string! So now I decide that I > should've tuned the piano while I was tuning so the pins would "set" in the > right position. So before I get any farther into the string changing I start > to tune again. This time I don't put the SG on until I have tuned it to the > right spot. Anyway I come back to where the string has broken and start to > fix it. I am going to back the pin out three turns ( was told 2 1/2, but > three always works better, then you just hit it down until its even). So I > start turning and the tuning hammer pops off the pin and slams into the lid > lifter, cracking it. (man can you believe this? I've never had this bad of > luck). Well I get the pin to turn out but by the time it gets to the third > turn the head is so mangled my tuning hammer barely stays on it, So I decide > to take it completely out and replace it with a "new pin". The one I am taking > out was blue, but I show the couple the new one and get them to ok a silver > pin. Now when I put in the new one it barely fits? Well since I know how to > use SG I can put in any pin and just "SG" it. So I have to take out the > action to make sure the SG doesn't drip on the hammers. I pull the action. Man > it's got some black s**t all over the bottom of it and my hands are still > black! But I didn't see the black stuff until I set it on the couch which is > of course, white! (I carry peroxide and I can get that stain out. They know > this and when I come back for the check up I'll fix it). So, I put the SG in > and put my finger over the bottom of the tuning pin hole to make sure it > doesn't come out. All is fine and good until I shoot it with the fixer. Man I > had the shock of my life! All of a sudden my finger is on fire! I can't take > it from the hole because the SG is holding it in place! It's burning like > hell. And I can't budge it. I try wiggling it round and round, but the skin > just stays stuck!!!! I want to scream but I am in someone elses house. Finally > the pain stops, but I still can't move my finger. I start to think about what > I am going to do when the lady walks in. I quickly stop grimacing and tell her > everything is almost finished but that I have to wait for the SG to set and so > on. She says that her & her husband go to bed at 8 pm and could I just come > back in the morning. I come up with a great one. I tell her that this process > has to be completed in one day or otherwise it'll be "defective". So they wait > up. > Meanwhile I think an finally come up that a good lube will do the job and > sure enough I got some of this white oil. I rub it all over the finger and > just massage it until my finger starts to peel off. Whew! I don't know what > white oil is but it's really good stuff. I use it all the time for pedal > squeaks and things like that. I'll ask my man where he get's it. The guy I > worked with used to mix it in a bottle and spray it when he couldn't find a > squeak. I don't do that, but I just keep squirtin' till it stops making noise. > Works! > So now it's 8:30 I only got two and a half octaves to go. I tell the lady > I'll be done in about 45 minutes. She says great and asks if she could pay me > now so they could go to bed. Victory! Of course, I tell her. And then I let > her know I will do the "check up" for free. I finish tuning the piano in > about twenty minutes. Now most of the piano is at 440, but not all. > Question(s) Should I use more SG and tune it again on the free check up? How > tight should the pins really be? I checked with my tourque wrench and all of > the pins go off the dial. Can they still slip even when I can't budge them? > What is the black stuff? What will remove it from the furniture if peroxide > doesn't work? > > Wayne S. > Central Florida > Dear wayne: Wow! Sure sounds like you had your hands full on this one! Unlike some of the other snobs on this list, I would like to respond to your questions without subjecting you to mockery and humiliation. As a fellow "newbie", I find it discouraging when others ridicule us when all we're trying to do is learn and make a few bucks along the way. Don't give up! When I decided to be a piano technician last week, my first couple of days were really tough. But since then I've found that this is a great profession where there's lots of cash to be made for very little actual work or thought. First, I think you could have avoided a lot of trouble if you weren't so concerned so much about A440. Do you really think that anyone can tell the difference between 440, 435, etc.? Personally, I can't count that fast and have no intention on wasting time learning to do so. I also don't think it's neccessary to use an expensive, sophisticated machine like your Korg tuner. I've come up with a great system that I'm willing to share with you: Since I'm always on the go, I carry a cell phone with me so my drinking buddies can always let me know where they'll be when I'm done my last job for the day. Not only does it make me look pretty cool, but if you listen carefully, you'll find that the dial tone produces two fairly distinct tones: An F and an A. It may take a while but if you persevere, you'll start to be able to determine which one is the A. (this also impresses the hell out of my clients when I demonstrate this talent) With a little practice, you'll soon find that you can get an F by pressing the "ONE" button, G from the FOUR, D from STAR, E from TWO, and B from POUND. There isn't a good C on the phone but once you have all the others, if it's in between B and D you should be fine. At first it will be hard to pick out the tones because there's other pitches in there as well but you'll get it eventually. (I think this is what other tuners are talking about when they refer to "inharmonicity". Don't worry about the black keys because they're hardly ever used anyway. So now that you've set your temperament, make the notes above the temperment go progressively up or "higher" and make the notes below go down or "lower" It's really hard to hear the highest and lowest notes on most pianos so if you start breaking strings, you know you're turning the handle too much. As you discovered, sometimes even when the greatest care is taken, strings will break. Why do you think there's three of them on most notes? Spares!! Just remove the broken wire and pin and save them just in case you are unlucky enough to have all three of them break on another piano. Speaking of pins, you mentioned silver and blue ones. I can't figure out for the life of me why there's never been a standard colour. I just paint all of mine red to match the felts.(make sure you don't get any on the plate as this is a dead giveaway of a sloppy technician) To avoid those "funny" pins you talked about, just give them all a good dose of 3 in 1 oil to make 'em good and limber. You may find that some of them even get too loose, but this is where the "SG" is a life saver. You had the right idea, but don't be shy. Apply lots of the stuff and get the pin where you want it FAST! Just to make sure, I always pour a little epoxy over it. Some would say this is overkill but if you're a perfectionist like me, you need to know in your own heart that you've done everything possible to keep the piano in perfect working order for your clients. Finally, Don't beat yourself up over pianos that don't turn out perfectly. You're only human and can't be expected to revive every hunk of junk that's thrown at you, especially those old Steinway clunkers. Stick with it and good luck!! Dale Davidson Ottawa, Ont. Burndkrisp@AOL.COM wrote: > > List, I am a newbie to this wonderful world of piano tuning. I have read with > great interest the discussions on using C.A. glue to repair pin blocks. I tend > to think better using the letters SG instead of CA, because CA is to hard to > remember. (I too peel the lables off and put on a computer print out lable > that reads "S.G." It looks really proffessional & good.) > I have one older customer that has a Steinway "l" or "m", I can't remember. > Nice old couple, but the piano was horrible. It had been in S Florida for many > years according to the lady. A fella named "Mr. Ford" sold them this piano a > long time ago. Claimed it had a gold plate and they paid extra for it. Well, I > came to tune it and it had some really "funny" pins that I would tune and then > later come back and they were out of tune again. Not a lot but just enough to > put the piano out of tune again. I had to pull really hard on the tuning pin > to get it to move, but when it did move it jumped right up to pitch. After > three times through it was still falling short of the mark on my Korg digital > tuner. This is when the trouble started. > I had promised them I would get their piano right. I have set as my goal, > every piano tuned perfectly at 440. I figure that'll get me some work and it > did. They were real impressed when I showed them the needle on my tuner go > right to 440 when I turned the tuning pin. Well anyway, it being a Sunday and > all, I was tired after four hours and the d**m thing was still reading below > 440 on my tuner!!!!!! Well, now I wanted to get it right and leave and get > paid and all that. So I braved up and told them it would only be one more time > through and it would be right at 440. Now this is where I got really > professional and I told them that it won't hold a tuning anymore because the > pins won't hold their tune. I told them I would put some SG on the pins and > wait for a few minutes before I tuned it again. At this time the clock says it > 4 pm, so I figure I can put on a coat of this SG and wait about 20 minutes > (beer time!!) go back and tune it . Meantime I just smooze with the Mr. & Mrs. > and make big bucks while I wait. So I put the SG on the plate and watch it > soak in around the holes. Not all of it is going in though? Some of it stays > on the plate? I run out of the stuff around the mid treble and figure I'm > making good money now I should go to the model shop and get a bigger bottle > before it closes at 5. When I come back I decide to check on my work. I tune > the a to 440 again and this time the pin won't budge? Finally after a lot of > wiggling I get a pin to move but it breaks a string! So now I decide that I > should've tuned the piano while I was tuning so the pins would "set" in the > right position. So before I get any farther into the string changing I start > to tune again. This time I don't put the SG on until I have tuned it to the > right spot. Anyway I come back to where the string has broken and start to > fix it. I am going to back the pin out three turns ( was told 2 1/2, but > three always works better, then you just hit it down until its even). So I > start turning and the tuning hammer pops off the pin and slams into the lid > lifter, cracking it. (man can you believe this? I've never had this bad of > luck). Well I get the pin to turn out but by the time it gets to the third > turn the head is so mangled my tuning hammer barely stays on it, So I decide > to take it completely out and replace it with a "new pin". The one I am taking > out was blue, but I show the couple the new one and get them to ok a silver > pin. Now when I put in the new one it barely fits? Well since I know how to > use SG I can put in any pin and just "SG" it. So I have to take out the > action to make sure the SG doesn't drip on the hammers. I pull the action. Man > it's got some black s**t all over the bottom of it and my hands are still > black! But I didn't see the black stuff until I set it on the couch which is > of course, white! (I carry peroxide and I can get that stain out. They know > this and when I come back for the check up I'll fix it). So, I put the SG in > and put my finger over the bottom of the tuning pin hole to make sure it > doesn't come out. All is fine and good until I shoot it with the fixer. Man I > had the shock of my life! All of a sudden my finger is on fire! I can't take > it from the hole because the SG is holding it in place! It's burning like > hell. And I can't budge it. I try wiggling it round and round, but the skin > just stays stuck!!!! I want to scream but I am in someone elses house. Finally > the pain stops, but I still can't move my finger. I start to think about what > I am going to do when the lady walks in. I quickly stop grimacing and tell her > everything is almost finished but that I have to wait for the SG to set and so > on. She says that her & her husband go to bed at 8 pm and could I just come > back in the morning. I come up with a great one. I tell her that this process > has to be completed in one day or otherwise it'll be "defective". So they wait > up. > Meanwhile I think an finally come up that a good lube will do the job and > sure enough I got some of this white oil. I rub it all over the finger and > just massage it until my finger starts to peel off. Whew! I don't know what > white oil is but it's really good stuff. I use it all the time for pedal > squeaks and things like that. I'll ask my man where he get's it. The guy I > worked with used to mix it in a bottle and spray it when he couldn't find a > squeak. I don't do that, but I just keep squirtin' till it stops making noise. > Works! > So now it's 8:30 I only got two and a half octaves to go. I tell the lady > I'll be done in about 45 minutes. She says great and asks if she could pay me > now so they could go to bed. Victory! Of course, I tell her. And then I let > her know I will do the "check up" for free. I finish tuning the piano in > about twenty minutes. Now most of the piano is at 440, but not all. > Question(s) Should I use more SG and tune it again on the free check up? How > tight should the pins really be? I checked with my tourque wrench and all of > the pins go off the dial. Can they still slip even when I can't budge them? > What is the black stuff? What will remove it from the furniture if peroxide > doesn't work? > > Wayne S. > Central Florida >
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