first almost-rebuild/major fixup project!

[ilex cameron ross]

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Thanks for your response, Bob.
I've brought the 600 up to pitch and will be fine-tuning it some time this
week. So far it seems to have a really nice tone to it! I'm taking your
advice, and will be waiting a while to replace the strings, although I
*will* be doing so some time before spring, when I will hopefully be moving
into a house where I can actually have it as my piano! Right now we're
keeping it at the shop, which makes things a bit easier to work on.
The friction is everywhere, really, but the keys are horrendously tight - it
takes a two-handed effort to pull them off the balance rail, and this isn't
the first time I've encountered this in older Kawai grands. I've discovered
that lucky me - this 600 has turbo whippens and real ivory keytops -
apparently Kawai was one of the few piano makers who used whole ivory
keytops, so it wasn't immediately eye-catching!
anyway, thanks again,
ilex
  -----Original Message-----
  From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On
Behalf Of BobDavis88@aol.com
  Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 2:50 AM
  To: pianotech@ptg.org
  Subject: Re: first almost-rebuild/major fixup project!


  Ilex,

  Congratulations. The Kawai 600 will make a nice piano. One general piece
of advice I have is to get to know the piano before doing anything to it.
Bring it to pitch, tune it, and play it for a while. I don't suppose there's
much reason to wait very long on the action work, but I'd wait on the
strings. Yes, eventually fix the bridges, but the deterioration you're
seeing will make almost no difference for now, except for the top section.
Even there, find out if the strings are causing wildness problems, and how
much, so you can hear when it gets better. Get to know the characteristics
of your piano, then the differences you make will be more instructive.

  Before you ease keys, make friction measurements at all rubbing or
rotating points in the action, to make sure the friction is indeed in the
keys. If it is indeed in the keys, ease slightly with heat, or rebush. Don't
go squashing wholesale on the key mortices.

  Wait on the strings.Get to know any weak spots in the scale. Get the
hammers in good shape, and the thirty-year-old strings will sound better. I
take care of a couple of 600's, and if memory serves, the plate is a little
soft, and they tend toward front duplex noise. Find out if I am right, in
case you want to do something about it at stringing time. The dampers will
probably serve, unless the spill got them, in which case you get to do two
full damper adjustments for practice - one now and one when you string.

  Plates aren't that hard to take out, and permit access to scrape and
refinish the board properly. If you make reference marks before the plate
comes out, you can get it back exactly where it was, and you won't disturb
the downbearing. Borrow a Lowell gauge and see how much bearing you have,
just for information.

  Enjoy.

  Bob Davis

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