[pianotech] water damage

[Ryan Sowers]

WOW! Whadda story, Joe! Its amazing sometimes what a piano can take!!

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 9:12 PM, Joseph Garrett <joegarrett at earthlink.net>wrote:

>  Jack,
> You do run into some interesting stuff, buddy. Here's my take on this
> stuff. I bought a Yamaha P-2 that had been in a Gymnasium fire. It was in 2
> feet of water and the roof, afire, fell on the piano. This caused the keys
> to combust and also the treble end caught fire. The major amount of damaged
> was caused after the piano was extracted, via fork lift, and placed in the
> parking lot. Some well meaning soul opened the lid to "let the piano dry/air
> out"!!! It rained that night and pretty much trashed the dampers and
> expanded the hammers. I had to replace the dampers intoto. The hammers were
> salvageable and were simply surfaced. Best sounding Yamama I've heard in
> ages!!<G> Nice and mellow tone with nice fundamental!<G> The strings were
> sprayed with LPS-1, which dispels water and changes rust to a white powder.
> This was done a week after the fire, in the process of taking the piano
> COMPLETELY apart so that all parts were able to dry without any influence
> from other parts, etc. The short version is: I gave it to my daughter 12
> years after the fact, as I didn't feel good about selling it, even tho it
> was now better than a new yamama, imho. My daughter has had that piano for
> over 20 years with no problems what so ever!! Bottom line: Those Yamamas are
> tough Mamas!!!
> In your case, I suspect the dampers will need to be replaced, possibly the
> strings need to be replaced. However, I'd bet that the pinblock is okay,
> once it dries out. I suspect the action will need some major work, but all
> worth it and doable, IMHO.<G> BTW, stains don't affect tone, the last time I
> checked. <G>
> Regards,
> Joe
>
>
> Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon)
> Captain, Tool Police
> Squares R I
>
>
>
>


-- 
Ryan Sowers, RPT
Puget Sound Chapter
Olympia, WA
www.pianova.net
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