STRING COVER

[Paul McCloud]

    The covers made by Judi Edwards have the battens sewn into a felt sleeve, which is velcro'd to the bottom of the cover.  If your cover material isn't 100% wool, or close to it, it may trap moisture under the cover, and cause more trouble than if it wasn't  there.  I don't know if Schaff material is wool, but I doubt it.  I've made covers myself, exactly as Edwards, which took me a good bit of time.  I'm no seamstress, and I taught m;myself to sew on an old machine, so I'd bet someone with the proper know-how could do it fairly easily.  The hard part is getting the battens on the cover in the right spot, and sewing the Velcro on.  
    A local tech uses high power magnets (Radio Shack?) on top of the cover material.  They are dime-size magnets.  Just stretch the material over the frame and put the magnets on top to hold it.  Maybe sew some small pockets for the magnets using some extra material, to camouflage them.
    Trace around the lid of the piano to make a pattern.  You would have to trim some material from the keyboard side, since the lid overhangs about 4" past the tuning pin field.  Sew a decorative border and use a serger  the edges to keep the material from fraying.  Whatever.  The idea is to keep the material from laying on the strings, so you can play it with the cover on, and prevent moisture from corroding the strings.  And, keep it real clean under there.  Judi likes to make the covers a little large, so the material overlaps the inside of the case, which helps seal it.  I've also seen monofilament nylon fishing line strung around the plate struts to hold the cover off the strings, but it really looks tacky when you take off the cover for a party.
    I've also started selling Music Sorb to customers who live near the water, and put it under the cover.  Extra protection never hurts.  
    No rocket science here, just common sense.

Paul McCloud
San Diego


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Brian Doepke 
To: Pianotech List
Sent: 03/09/2007 3:08:04 PM 
Subject: RE: STRING COVER


I just got a string cover that I ordered from Schaff, and there are no wooden braces (like someone had suggested).
 
Any suggestions on getting a proper fit/trim?
 
Brian P. Doepke
AAA Piano Works, Inc.
Piano Tuning-Repair-Purchase Consults
260-432-2043
260-417-1298
www.aaapianoworks.com
 



From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jon Page
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 6:00 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: STRING COVER+FIRMER TOUCH
 
>Mostly on the naturals  to effect a -6g FW to even the touch
>between the sharps and naturals.
This means that if the FW is 11, back leading make the FW 5g.
 
The naturals are fairly consistent so it's only a matter of drilling
a hole at the same spot on each key.
 
For A0 and C8, I install back lead to make the FW equal to the rest,
either one lead further out on the key or two leads.
-- 

Regards,

Jon Page
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