Wyman Microgrand - YUK!

[Delwin D Fandrich]

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  -----Original Message-----
  From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On
Behalf Of Farrell
  Sent: April 24, 2004 2:02 AM
  To: pianotech@ptg.org
  Subject: Wyman Microgrand - YUK!


  I tuned a Wyman Microgrand the other day. The piano is about a year old.
Is this a Chinese or Indonesian product? Where on earth did this thing come
from?

  A couple interesting features: A 5-ply laminated soundboard and a 5-ply
laminated bridge cap in the high treble. The soundboard had micro-thin
exterior veneers of some spruce-looking material (contact paper?) and the
interior three ply clearly appeared to be some type of hardwood - poplar?
birch? selectus garbagatum?

  Now the bridge cap - that thing really rocked me. The long bridge was a
solid piece of some kind of hardwood and the manufacturer actually notched
out an 8 mm or so thick chunk off the top of this fine bridge to insert the
laminated cap. Clearly, this was done on-purpose. Presumably there was a
reason to do this. What was that reason? Because they have a no-compromise
approach to piano building? Because the bridge otherwise sounded sooooo
bad - the laminated cap was an afterthought fix attempt? Because they
monitor this list? I don't know what the cap was made of. It was not maple
or beech. Could it have been ironwood (I don't think so)? I hope it was not
the same material the soundboard was made of - it did look similar and the
laminations were about the same thickness.

  Yeah, but how did it sound? Much like an uninspired microgrand. Small.
Constrained. Short sustain. Lots of false stuff up in the high treble.

  Oh, and did I mention the tuning pins? "CRACK!"  Many of them did the
jumpy thing. And all of them flagpoled enough to make a Steinway vertical
seem like Steinway must use half-inch diameter hardened tuning pins. If you
wanted to raise or lower the pitch a half-cent, you would have to go 20
cents up or down to get any movement. During the pitch raise, I had to go 50
cents sharp to get the pitch where I wanted it after removing hammer from
pin. And that's the ones that were not jumpy! YIKES!

  Anyway, that's all I gots to say 'bout that.

  Terry Farrell

So, what's your problem here, Terry? You're not used to working with pianos
of this fine and famed quality?

Del

PS. It's made in Beijing. By the same folks (Beijing Xing Hai) that bring
you the famed Lothar Schell grand pianos. Along with numerous other Heritage
Grand Pianos. I wonder if they have figured out what action bedding screws
are for yet?

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