Prepping new pianos

[Rob Kiddell]

Thanks to everyone for their input...

I have serviced a pile of Samick grands under the Howard/D.H. 
Baldwin/Wurlitzer names, and I can state that I have to agree with 
Lance's observation: these pianos just aren't stable. The problems I 
mentioned recur for about a year, I fix them, they go away, and 
then the piano seems to settle in. Lately, however, I was feeling 
pretty cocky as I had not received the dreaded calls (sticking keys, 
sticking dampers, squeaky pedals) until I received one call daily (4 
days running on different pianos), all on instruments under a year 
out in homes.

Note to Kevin & Dave: yes, the upstop rails are set high, that is 
one of the adjustments done before the piano leaves the store: 
Simple test: if the damper bounces on the back of the key, giving 
your finger a thump as you play, the rail's definitely too high. 90% 
of them play that way out of the box.

Also, we're in a prairie climate in December (cold and dryyyyy), 
and it seems that these problems come during a cold snap. I would 
think that this would help matters rather than cause sluggishness 
in dampers and jacks, but it is not the case. Possibly why the jack 
birdseye centers are loose, but why the damper sluggishness? 
More study to be done there.

I spend roughly 1/2 to a full day on these critters before they go 
out, and sticking keys are not fun (How much time did you spend 
on this piano?!?) There is enough regulation, string levelling, 
voicing, tuning, damper timing and adjustment (nod to Lance again) 
to keep one very busy for that time without repinning jacks and re-
bushing damper guide rails as well.

Regarding lubrication: I tend to use teflon powder on knuckles and 
teflon spray on anything else, as I have been somewhat 
disappointed with Pro-Tek in the past. I will be setting up a C-153 
at the beginning of next week and I'll try Pro-Tek on the damper 
guides. 

Again, thanks, and I'll let you know what happens. It would be nice 
to set up a checklist for specific preparation of problematic pianos. 
I'll see what I can come up with.

Regards, 

 


Rob Kiddell RPT
Atonal Piano Service
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/atonal/