[pianotech] Tuning pin height

[Israel Stein]

>
> Jer writes:
>
>     Looks are as important as anything else.
>
>     Otherwise, why line up hammers to look right when replacing them?  Or back
>
>     checks? 
>
> I don't think looks are all that important,(or they would have locked 
> my up years ago), but they do indicate the care taken in a job. A 
> rebuilder that leaves sloppy, uneven, coils will rarely do a more 
> consistant job drilling the block, at least in my experience.  I like 
> beckets to line up because it leaves the tuning hammer in the same 
> position from pin to pin, facilitating tuning. It also indicates a 
> stringers ability to be consistant, which can show up in how the wire 
> curvature is placed from string to string.   There is a  lot of 
> aesthetic effort put in restoration, and an even pin field is one way 
> pride is shown.  A worker that has no pride rarely does the best work.
I don't believe that Ron Nossaman - who was the first to express the 
opinion here that lined up beckets don't matter - can hardly be accused 
of "rarely doing the best work". And when rebuilding pianos in an 
institutional setting on salary one must always engage in triage, due to 
constraints on time and resources,  pay attention to things that affect 
function and sometimes forget about one's "pride".  And besides, "screw 
polisher" has always been a derisive term in this trade - one who bases 
one's pride on things that look good but matter little, instead of 
obsessing over things that do matter. In his original message Ron 
pointed out flaws in the job that do matter - for example, tuning pin 
drilling angle - which the person who posted the original criticism 
totally overlooked. Obsessing over insignificant details may sometimes 
prevent one from paying attention to significant ones, especially in 
time-sensitive situations. Two-edged sword, Ed.
>     As far as hammers and backchecks lining up, those are elements in 
> function, and I do think they are important, even if I allow a mm or 
> so alteration in blow distances between hammers to even out action 
> geometry.
Precisely. Things that matter an awful lot... If  lining up beckets is 
considered on the same level of importance as hammer and backcheck 
alignment - than someone has a rather screwed up value system...

Israel Stein
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