Philippino piano

[Willem Blees]

Yesterday?I worked on a ?piano made in the Philippines. (I didn't even know they made them in that country.)

This is a console piano, but instead of the pins being in a vertical plain, they are at a?45 degree angle. As a result,?when the strings leave the pins, they have to go over a corner to make them go?straight down. In the treble area, the?manufacturer put felt between the string and the plate. After an inch or so, where the areas is concave, there is V bar, of sorts, again, with felt. After that the strings go under a pressure bar.?The problem?with the felt is that it?attracts?moisture, so all the strings are rusty. When?I got there, there were seven broken strings.?Not just hanging there, they were gone. The owner of the piano told me the previous tuner removed the strings, because he didn't know how to replace them. 

Replacing them would have been easy,?except that half of the hitch pins were loose. I mean, I could take them out with my fingers.?When?I put a new string on, the pin would turn, and the new string would pop off. So I had to super glue them in place before I could put the strings on.?

I had removed the action to get to the strings, and?when I put the action back in, I?had to use a?hammer to put the bass end bracket in place, but the high treble bracket was floating in mid air, and there was lots of lost motion. That obviously brought up a red flag.?

Sure enough, the treble side of the case was loose from the back frame. I could move it back and forth with?my hands.?

I told the customer it would cost at least $100 to fix it, and she said no.?When I started to tune?the bass, starting at the tenor,?the second bass string broke, which was the only one on that note to begin with.?

It told her the piano was not worth?it to fix. I recommended that she put the piano?out in the street. (She had gotten it for free).??

??
Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technian
Honolulu, HI
Author of 
The Business of Piano Tuning
available from Potter Press
www.pianotuning.com
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