birdcages

[Brian Holden]

Yes Mark, I agree with Graeme on this one.  You say you haven't come across
a birdcage piano in 10 years.  Good grief, they're all over the place here!
Most of them are sods of things to tune but business being business, we can
usually get them sounding reasonably good.  I came across a lovely Ibach
overdamper a few years ago, and it has been a pleasure ever since to work
on - but this is an exception.

Mute them as Graeme suggests, and they won't cause too much of a problem.
It's the two string unison ones that can give you a headache.  A "good"
birdcage will never damp as well as an underdamper as the dampers flop down
on to the strings by weight.  The dampers on a modern piano "snap" on to the
strings by the springs, which is much more effective.  The actions are
nortorious for not sitting quite forward enough towards the strings,
allowing them to ring on.  Usually a slight push on the top of the action
will indiacte that this is the problem.  You should be able to adjust the
action somehow to rectify this.

Don't be too hasty to write off a birdcage piano, most can be improved -
it's when the pin block is split, that you simply replace the panels and
walk back out the door!

Brian Holden, Rotorua, New Zealand


-----Original Message-----
From: bases-loaded@juno.com <bases-loaded@juno.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Saturday, 12 February 2000 11:15
Subject: birdcages


>Hello -
>
>After having the good fortune to have not run into a birdcage action in
>app. 10 years, I had the extreme misfortune to run into 2 of them this
>week.  I have basically two questions, although "what were they
>thinking?" also comes to mind.
>
>1.  Do these actions ever damp well?  In both instances, the damper felt
>seemed soft enough, and was regulated properly, but the pianos sounded as
>if someone forgot to install dampers!
>
>2.  What is the most sane way to tune these critters?  I actually had to
>lean the actions back and pluck strings in the center section, as it was
>impossible to get mutes in there.  Do you lean it back and strip mute the
>whole thing?  I can't imagine a process that isn't unwieldy...
>
>It is no great surprise to me that this design went out of favor 100
>years ago!
>
>Mark Potter
>bases-loaded@juno.com
>