On 10/2/09, Israel Stein <custos3 at comcast.net> wrote: > >> >> 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 Funny about this screw polishing coming up, now. I recently visited an old customer with a new piano. The piano is a Lester grand, so it's not NEW new. The plate was nicely repainted (where, besides on the plate did Lester put a serial #?), case was pretty nice, coils were pretty consistently 3 and the pin height was mostly even (if high). I didn't look at becket orientation, as I was more concerned with trying to get it up from 434Hz. Customer said, when she called, that some notes "didn't work". Sure enough, top 4 or 5 didn't have any tone/pitch. Plate was not where it should be so I moved the action in as far as it would go to gain a soupçon of pitch. On the other end of the stretcher, there was a gap of about a quarter inch between stretcher and rim. But it sure looked purty... -- Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT - Keyboard Technician Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045 1-(563)-387-1204 // Fax 1-(563)-387-1076
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