lessons learned

[Alan]

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Well, Tom, don=92t be shy about sharing your experiences. We need more
voices=97not that we don=92t love lurkers=97but there are many more =
people
with good stuff to share than we hear from.
=20
Having said all that =85 picture Apu from =93the Simpsons=94 saying:  =
=93I don=92t
know what the Hell were you thinking?=94
=20
Lester spinet + plastic elbows + plastic flanges =3D =93Into the pond =
with
that one, Lady!=94
=20
 It=92s a PSO; it=92s a POS; and it=92s an OPS*
=20
I=92ve replaced plastic elbows in cheap pianos when the flanges were =
wood,
but I would have condemned that puppy on site. Once a lady paid me to
replace all elbows, whippen flanges, and hammer butt flanges on a
Gulbransen console=97but she knew her options and the cost, up front.
Thank Heavens the damper flanges were wood.
=20
It=92s the =93ya never know=94 that makes it fun (sometimes) isn=92t it?
=20
Cheers,
=20
Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO
=20
*Old-Plastic Spinet
=20
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Tvak@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 8:54 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: lessons learned
=20
To all

Today I taught myself a couple of lessons.  First of all, I will never
break the following rule ever again:

Don't ever...ever....even TOUCH a plastic flange unless it is glued to
the doorknob of the exit door and even only then if there's no other way
out.

I replaced a set of elbows today.  I knew that it had plastic wippen
flanges.  Why was I so careless snapping that first elbow in place?  The
price?  Removal of the spinet action to replace the cracked plastic
wippen flange. =20

The other 87 elbows snap in place with no further problem due to extreme
care on my part.  Adjust the lost motion and...play the piano.
Hmmm...the hammer on middle C is double striking.  I'll just move the
backcheck forward and... (What was I thinking...?)

Out comes the spinet action to replace the newly broken plastic wippen
flange.  While replacing the wippen flange I brush against a damper
lever and...now I can replace the plastic damper flange on that damper
lever and... the one next to it which I also bumped into with the
screwdriver.

Back goes the action and as I play the piano I realize that the damper
lever on D5 is not damping due to it's also being cracked.  (I did look
at them all while they were out of the piano, but it was not visually
apparent.)  Now, I was nowhere near D5 so I wonder if this was a
pre-existing problem, which leads me to the next lesson I learned:

Check the piano first to see if there are any problems. =20

BTW, my original service call on this piano was 6 months ago at which
time I replaced 4 elbows and informed the client of the existence of all
the plastic flanges, and the costs involved in replacing them.  I
advised him NOT to put any money into this Lester spinet, other than
replacing those 4 elbows that had already broken.  Six months later he
called to tell me to go ahead with the elbows.   In the back of my mind
I was thinking, wasn't this the piano with all the plastic flanges?  But
rather than say anything, I just went ahead and made the appointment.
Which leads me to the last lesson for the day:

Take better notes on each piano for future reference.

I rarely share my experiences with others on the list.   Hope this was
worth reading...

Tom Sivak

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=20

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