"Standards" stranded in isolation

[Kevin E. Ramsey]

    David, I would be very interested in knowing whether this work was done
by a local technician, or whether this piano was out-sourced to some company
to have the work done. I am not interested in the name of the technician, if
it was an individual who performed the work.


----- Original Message -----
From: "David Renaud" <drjazzca@yahoo.ca>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2001 8:22 PM
Subject: "Standards" stranded in isolation


> Our mission is to raise standards by improving
> ourselves and promote awareness of a sometimes
> illusive "standard".
>
> I wonder if I am amiss in my duty to avoid facing a
> technician.....Would anyone bother persuing this?
>
> Client has a $5000 rebuild job done on a 6" Hientzman.
> (Canadian$)
>
> Nice shims. Strings,pins.hmmm... Action does not work.
>
> Client complained and the "store" had $1000 of
> regulation done under consultation with yet another
> "technician" to "fix it"....I have no idea what was
> done. I was called in for a second opinion.
>
> I charged aprox. $500 Canadian to improve what
> I found as follows......
>
> 1) Able hammers with massive rectangular tails
>    glued on out of the box, no attempt at tail
> shaping.
>    I shaped them. Absolutely no repetition spring
>    action, tails too heavy....now they work.
>
> 2)Drop screws turned ALL the way up, so the rep.
>   lever would lift the hammer at least 1/4 to 1/2
>   inch above the string level if they could have.
>
> 3) New rollers, some glued on at 30 to 40 degree
> angles, I  reglued about dozen or so.
>
> 4) Hammer strike line crooked in top half of piano.
>  I did not start removing and regluing hammers.
>  Nothing regular about the "regulation" at all,
>  At least now the hammers don't look like the
>  rocky mountains, and there is now let-off,drop,rep.
> springs, and even checking, burned in shanks so
> they are at least strait up and down. Leveled some
> string (really opened up the bass), taped some sting
> ,little bit of voicing in the top end, lube
> things a bit. Sounds much, much better. Could do
> more fitting of hammers to strings.
>
> 5) Nothing done to dampers/pedals...noisy.
>
> 6) Should have had new pinblock...new pins are
>    at different hights, some flush with plate
>    to compensate.
>
> In all about 5 hrs in shop & 7 hours in home,
> plus transport of action.
>
> What has me somewhat amazed is that a $5000 bill
> was collected followed by a $1000 "service".
> Forget being fussy, as far as I'm concerned it
> actually did not even work.
>
> They did bother to repin all the flanges....
> good and tight.
>
> Lets remind ourselves not to be too shy to ask for
> help....there is lots left to learn.
>
>                               Cheers
>                               Dave Renaud
>                               RPT
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