CA vs Loose Pins

[Don]

Hi John,

CA can be effective on *extremely* loose tuning pins, atleast on uprights.
One of my rural clients doped his entire upright himself. He happened to
use a syringe and on one pin which was *extra* loose he used 75 ml of CA
glue. When I finally got to tune the piano I was not able to tell which pin
he had done this to.

At 01:11 PM 01/06/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear List,
>
>Last month I requested info on CA glue for loose tuning pins. It's only fair
>that I report the results, especially to those who thoughtfully responded.
>And the results are: it worked, and it didn't work. It appears that, in my
>opinion, CA glue can pull you out of a "slippy" situation, sometimes. A
>couple of the pins I tried it on were so loose that the CA glue was not
>effective. Thus, I muted those strings that wouldn't tune, got my client
>through her Christmas party, and recommended that the next step is a
>replacement or rebuild.
>
>Now, following are some comments, my opinions, of course, regarding this
>matter:
>
>When a piano is in need of CA glue on more than a few tuning pins, it's in
>need of a lot more than just CA glue. I would not recommed CA gluing or
>doping an entire pinblock - I shudder at the thought - although, I know some
>folks do, and that's fine for them. I've learned that there are many ways to
>skin a cat in this business, but, to me, some cats are best left alone. (In
>order to buy a little more time in an emergency, on a few pins at best,
>then, CA glue may be the ticket. And, there are other ways to solve a loose
>tuning pin problem, too!) But, let's face it, doping an entire pinblock is a
>bandaid fix.
>
>It's a funny thing that in the last month I've encountered two more pianos
>(grands) that are not holding tension due to loose pins. I admit I CA glued
>two pins on a Yamaha gray-market piano to "buy some more time", but the
>other was just too far gone. In these cases, I recommended replacement or
>have them rebuilt (preferably with new PBs). It's apparent that I'm running
>into increasingly more pianos with "loose pin" troubles (are you?). I don't
>think that this is some kind of coincidence, either, and here's why. Many
>pianos were sold to/for boomers during the 50s, 60s and 70s. The condition
>of these pianos, coming from the historical height of US piano sales, due to
>the pianos ages, is now starting to deteriorate (the pianos are now over 30
>years old). I am not a rebuilder, but, I would bet dollars to donuts that
>the piano rebuilding business is going to see a flurry of new work in the
>very near future - if it hasn't already begun. And piano sales will continue
>to increase with even more vigor. (I would someday like to have a shop and
>become a rebuilder; it's very rewarding work. And, there are not enough good
>rebuilders - there seems to be plenty of room for more. The Aerospace
>industry has a similar problem with more talent leaving or retiring and not
>enough good talent coming in - but that's a whole other story.)
>
>Bandaids only hold for so long, then they fall off. Doping pinblocks is a
>bandaid. Our clients, and thus the piano industry as a whole, in my opinion,
>would benefit from either recommending a new piano or a rebuilt piano
>instead of applying a bandaid to a piano beginning its dying cough. It's up
>to us to gently guide our clients to the right decision. The fact is, all of
>us are going to be encountering more and more of these untunable pianos. Do
>we squirt CA glue into them and cross our fingers, or do we recommend a new
>purchase or a rebuild? The bandaid approach, I think, hurts everyone. The
>later recommendation has obvious benefits for our industry, at least in my
>mind.
>
>What do you think?
>
>Warmest Regards,
>
>John Piesik, RPT
>Piesik's Piano Service
>Oceanside, CA
>(760) 726-4665
>jpiesik@arinc.com
>
>P.S. As I'm not subscribed, please copy me in your response:
>jpiesik@arinc.com
>
>
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.M.T., R.P.T.

Tuner for the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts

drose@dlcwest.com
http://donrose.htmlplanet.com/

3004 Grant Rd.
REGINA, SK
S4S 5G7
306-352-3620 or 1-888-29t-uner