key duplication - partial set

[bases-loaded@juno.com]

Hi Clyde -

Thanks for your reply.  I am certainly going to look into all options
before giving up.  I perhaps am in a minority, but I have a fondness for
the old uprights that doesn't always translate well in terms of economy. 
They evoke all kinds of nostalgic feelings -   parlors and old songs in
turn of the century America that helped make the piano a household
mainstay.  If there was a "golden age" of piano manufacturing, this would
seem to be it, if only mythologically.  Certainly the casework is
something we are not likely to see again, at the very least.  I like 'em,
especially when they are still musical!  

I will try Schaff and Pianotek, etc., to be sure.  I can't see that water
was the culprit here, but is is certainly possible.  The keys affected
are not consecutive, there is no rust or hardened felt, and there are no
signs of water stains.  There ARE signs of them being "mashed", as with a
hammer, or.....      

the hooves of rhinoceroses?

Mark Potter
bases-loaded@juno.com 

On Mon, 28 Feb 2000 07:12:20 -0500 Clyde Hollinger <cedel@supernet.com>
writes:
> Mark,
> 
> I considered Robin's response to you and I have a different opinion, 
> although
> it is *only* an opinion; she may still be right.  You mentioned the 
> keys were
> mangled beyond description, apparently by some other technician 
> attempting to
> deal with the problem.  That may have been years ago.  If the 
> condition
> hasn't changed in years, I think it is not likely to change now.  If 
> this is
> true, having replacement keys made should be a long-term repair with 
> good
> results.
> 
> As to why this problem occurred, if they were all within one or 1 
> 1/2
> octaves, I would think they got sopping wet somewhere along the 
> line.  That
> still may be the case for the bass section.  Although I have very 
> limited
> experience with keys that got wet, I seem to remember that some will 
> skew
> more than others.  It would seem that other problems would surface 
> if this
> were the case, such as swollen or missing key bushings and rusty key 
> pins.
> 
> Now getting to your question; I don't know.  :-(  I would guess some 
> of the
> major piano suppliers (Pianotek?  Schaff?) would do this for you if 
> they can
> get enough information from the original keys to make new ones.  
> They may
> even want you to send them the whole keyframe with the bass section 
> keys.  I
> suspect it will be pricey; get an estimate so you and the owner can 
> decide if
> it is worth the cost, if this is a mostly wornout old upright.
> 
> Regards,
> Clyde Hollinger
> 
> P. S.  I seriously doubt you can blame rhinos!  <G>
> 
> bases-loaded@juno.com wrote:
> 
> > Hi List -
> >
> > Upon approaching a first-time customer's Ellington upright on 
> Friday, I
> > stood and stared in disbelief at the keys in the bass.  Over the 
> phone
> > she had said that her daughter was complaining about sticky keys.  
> What I
> > saw was 10-12 keys, not consecutive, but all in the bass, that 
> were going
> > 'every which way' but straight.  They were not a little crooked, 
> some
> > were not even able to ride on their own front pin and were pushing 
> so
> > hard on their neighbors that even keys a couple notes down were
> > affected... kind of like a 10-car pile-up.
> >
> > When I opened up the case to gain access to the keys I could see 
> that
> > some unexplainable event had taken place.  The only scenario I can
> > conjure up is that at some time in the past a technician removed 
> the keys
> > for some reason and a pack of rhinoceros' just happened to 
> stampede thru
> > the room at that moment.  They were mangled beyond description, 
> and the
> > oddest efforts had been made by some cowboy to cut large 
> triangular
> > notches and glue hunks of wood into the sides of the keys to 
> "re-route"
> > them into place - quite unsuccesfully, to be sure.
> >
> > My question is this.... does anyone know of a service that would
> > remanufacture app. 12 keys?  The rest of the keys are fine, but 
> these 12
> > are WAY beyond fixing.  Has anyone run into anything similar and 
> found a
> > successful remedy?  I have replaced the stray key here and there 
> over the
> > years, but with this many I thought it may be more feasible to 
> farm it
> > out to an operation that specializes in this kind of work.
> >
> > Any leads would be greatly appreciated..
> >
> > Mark Potter
> > bases-loaded@juno.com
>