Paul Bruesch and others discussed this over the last few days but no one mentioned a fix I have used. On many of the asian pianos, grands primarily, the keyslip is backed up with a piece of angle iron that is attached to it. When I first began working as a private contractor to a Kawai dealer they delivered a KG-2 to a home that, due to the way the entry was constucted, they removed the piano from the skid and slid it up the short (5 or 6) steps to the living room. In the process it almost got away from them and there was some minor damage. I was at the store floor tuning that day and they called me to rush over. The problem consisted of the action, which had been untied at the store when I prepped and tuned it, had been jostled and keys were sitting on top of the front rail pins. When I got them realigned they stuck on the keyslip. The keyslip had been pushed in when the piano was being shoved up the steps or when it slipped and was caught and the angle iron backer bent inward, I removed it, turned it so it was facing out, put it across my knee and pulled on the ends, bending it back to a straightened position. The owner of the store was standing there watching and the look on his face was worth the trip! <g> I have since run across the same problem on Samicks, Yamahas and others, most recently a brand new shiny black George Steck and "fixed" them all the same way! If the guide pins for the keyslip bind in their new position a few licks with a rattail file toward the front of the hole usually suffice Frequently when customers or movers are positioniong a grand they apparantly push there to move it to the exact point they want it placed in the room, not realizing that it can be bent from the force required to move that much weight. On older grands and those without the metal backup I have used the old keytop glued to the front of the action frame method. That allows the action to shift without increased drag or noise. Occasionally the fit is tight and the keytop on wood will squeak a bit but burnishing some graphite(coloring in the spot with a good soft lead pencil) into the keyslip at the point of contact usually suffices. On those without a shift mechanism, some grands and all verticals I've used frontrail punchings, old business cards and occasionally screws as the case warranted or my mood moved me. <grin> Mike -- Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. Vince Lombardi Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080624/b565cbd5/attachment.html
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