This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Gordon, that's great. I'm glad it happened to you. Kevin. ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Gordon Holley=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: Monday, April 21, 2003 11:24 AM Subject: Baldwin Corfam Butts and Backchecks List and Fellow Technicians I'll preface this with ALWAYS BE ON YOUR TOES, YOU NEVER KNOW WHO IS=20 IN ANOTHER ROOM LISTENING. I tuned a Baldwin Hamilton Studio Console, 1982, this past Saturday=20 morning for a neighbor. He had already told me that it hadn't been=20 tuned in some years and that there was also something wrong with it,=20 some kind of a clicking sound. I opened the top, took off the front, sat down and played about 32=20 bars of "Over The Rainbow" softly and didn't take long to determine=20 it was muchly out of tune and I did hear the clicking. I had already=20 told Bob that it very likely would need a pitch raise, so I got my=20 SAT III on and tuned and proceeded to make 6 checks on all the "A's".=20 A6 through A3 were about 39.5 cents flat and A3 through A0 were about=20 59.5 cents flat. =20 All this time Bob, the owner, was sitting in the living room and=20 watching and listening; "Yes Bob, I'll need to do a pitch raise",=20 "that's fine, we'll be in the kitchen with our daughter and son-in- law". I started tuning and still listening for the clicking and trying to=20 remember what I had read on the list about Baldwin actions. The more=20 I strained the brain cells, and continued the pitch raise, the more I=20 "stewed" about what "had I read, what was the subject?". I continued on for about 15 minutes and was aware that someone had=20 walked into the livingroom and was standing a little behind me=20 listening and watching. I finally turned around and the son-in-law steps up and hands me his=20 business card and introduces himself, "Hi Gordon, I'm Sam Eberwein, I=20 used to work for Baldwin when this piano was build and sold to Bob,=20 but I left Baldwin and I now work for Steinway. I'm District Manager=20 for Northern Indiana and into the Chicago area, mind if I sit down I=20 want to show you something?". ("Hell no, I'm going to learn=20 something") He then asked if I was familiar with Corfam?, "That's the product=20 name I was trying to remember, Yes, I remember now the discussions on=20 the list about clicking noises and Corfam". Then he proceeded to tell me about the use of Corfam on the butts=20 and back catchers, and after 12 to 13 years, then Baldwin discovered=20 the problems. He told me he had left Baldwin some years back before=20 the purchase by Gibson and knew that there was no way that there=20 would be any warranty coverage now by Gibson.=20 "So, tell me, how would you remove the Corfam and replace with=20 buckskin?". Apparently the "Brain Gods" were with me and I remembered what Joe=20 Garrett had recently written in a thread "The proper kit for=20 replacing Corfam is :Real buckskin, Hide glue, a sharp knife and=20 lotsa time". I had remembered other participants talking about this=20 problem going back into 1996 and was sure I'd find all I needed in=20 the archives, "And brother I sure did, all this morning". =20 This Corfam was the light brown and hard, under the butt, when the=20 jack bounced back after let-off, it tapped on the hard corfam. Could=20 not detect any click at the backchecks, and they had the corfam also.=20 Sam explained, that at the time the corfam was used, buckskin was=20 difficult to get. (I guess he should know) Sam asked me to describe the procedure to replace the butts corfam=20 with buckskin, and having recently replaced the buckskin on 88=20 "Kimball" type knuckles on my grand, having plenty of buckskin=20 leftover, had the Olfa cutter and self-healing board, lots of hot- hide glue crystals, lots of wall-paper remover, I walked through what=20 I believed it would take. Sam sat there nodding his head approvingly and then asked if $500=20 would cover the labor intensive procedure. "Yes, I would think so,=20 said I". "Dad, do you want to make that investment in this piano=20 now"?. "The piano is probably now worth about $2300". Well, it was decided that Dad and Mom would think this over. With the pitch raise and a double pass fine tuning completed Sam=20 asked me to give him some of my business cards and proceeded to ask=20 if I knew "Doyle, at Goshen College, did I know this technician or=20 that one, was I a member of the PTG?". Next time he would be visiting Bob and Anne he'd bring along a stack=20 of Steinway information and specifications. =20 "And by the way that was a good tuning, says Sam, but Bob, it will=20 probably be a little out of tune in an hour or so", and explained=20 that the piano should be tuned again in another 3 months, and that=20 this was a sever pitch raise". He told Dad that he recommends=20 tuning 4 times a year on Steinways. =20 Sure would be nice to have a guy like this along with me every time=20 I run into this kind of a piano, ya know "Baldwins". I tune other=20 Hamiltons and had not paid much attention to clicking noises, I sure=20 will in the future, but then, neither had the owners. Well, my fellow technicians, always be on your toes, hope that you=20 don't have a senior moment when your called on, particularly by=20 someone that could delve into more technical info than your brain=20 cells could store at the moment.=20 I only wanted to share this with you all and thank this list for=20 "being there when you need help". My Regards, Gordon Holley Goshen, IN Associate Member Indiana Chapter 467 _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/04/52/43/45/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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