Bill,Thanks for your post,.This conversion kit sounds interesting as one of my clients has a G1 with this problem. I'll call Yamaha and inquire.As for your soundtrack, I'm new to the list and have yet to catch up with your reputation.Thanks for the advice , Tom Driscoll ----- Original Message ----- From: <Billbrpt@AOL.COM> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2000 12:20 AM Subject: Re: Sohmer > In a message dated 10/16/00 10:39:53 PM Central Daylight Time, > tomtuner@mediaone.net (Tom Driscoll) writes: > > << Bill, Please don't misunderstand my contribution to this thread on sohmer. > >> > > It always seems that people see flames leaping out and hear the music from > "Psycho" (SCREECH-SCREEECH-SCREECH!!!) no matter what I write. The truth is, > Tom, that I never even read your post. I am, however, opposed to any > categorical "bashing" of any given make of piano. Recently, Kristinn of > Iceland who happens to be interested in what I do, wrote that he disliked > Sohmers. I saw lots of Sohmer responses after that but skimmed through and > did not read all of them > > Jim, however, even though we often disagree and I often dislike what he > writes, sometimes writes things that I am in total agreement with. In this > case, I happened to pick up on what he wrote about that brand of piano. > > Believe me, I know what you are talking about. I tune a few Sohmers that are > in the school system here and some in homes too. Climate control is the key. > Sohmer is not the only brand that has a scale design weakness in the low > tenor. The Yamaha G1 (maybe GH1 too) that has plain wire all the way down to > B2 has very much the same problem yet many prominent customers: hotels, > schools, churches and people with nice, big homes have this piano. I can > fully imagine that when they looked at the G1 and say, a C3, they both looked > the same and probably sounded the same as far as they were concerned, so they > bought the cheaper one. > > Any piano built with thin, plain wire deep into the low tenor will not stay > in tune well at all through humidity changes. Yamaha has other scale designs > which have wound strings in this portion. There is also a conversion kit > that you can get to improve that portion of the piano if it was made that > way. I did it once for a piano teacher who complained about this very same > problem. I told her what the reason was and she suggested that I call the > manufacturer to ask if there was a solution for it. I was quite surprised > and pleased to hear of the kit and that I was quite correct in my > identification of the problem. That piano has stayed very nicely in tune > ever since. > > In the case of this teacher who would like some semblance of tuning > stability, I too, recommend a full 50 watt humidity control system and a > cover for the back. After it has had the system in place for a while, it > would be a good idea to go through and tighten whichever plate bolts you can. > Even tilting the piano on its back and removing the bottom board so you can > get at the bottom plate bolts would be a good idea. > > After that, tap down the strings on the bridges (maybe make adjustments to > the pressure bar too if you really think it needs it) and give the piano a > really good, solid tuning. Make sure that it is not kept in a place where > the sun shines directly on it at any time during the day or is even near > direct sunlight. If people want some different response from that piano, > they have to be willing to accept the reality of what it takes to get it. > > If the piano responds to all of this but is still not quite satisfactory in > the low tenor, one last ditch effort would be to rescale just this portion, > say from F3-C4. Converting the two lowest tenor notes to wound strings and > beefing up the wire above that would go a long way in providing something > that you could expect to stay better in tune. > > Regards, > > Bill Bremmer RPT > Madison, Wisconsin
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