It isn't? Come on…. You mean to tell me that too much glue making a hard bushing that can be seen by another technician is not cosmetic? A Key bushing that hangs way over the side is not cosmetic? 6 coils around a tuning pin is not cosmetic? A string that has a horrible looking splice with ends touching other strings nearby is not cosmetic? Or, a hammer not placed in the proper position won't affect the tone and is not cosmetic? Let's get real here man! What kind of argument is that??? It is appearing to me that ascetics means little to some people in here. Again, as I stated before, of all the pianos I encounter where people do not bother to line up beckets, on many of these same pianos, I find sloppy workmanship elsewhere. And to me, not lining beckets up IS sloppy workmanship. Like it or not. I prefer nicely aligned beckets with at least 3 coils. For those that don't? Well, that's your preference isn't it. Part of the argument is, does it look nice? NO. Does it make the piano tune easier? NO. So, why not take the time and line them up? One thing most of you are completely ignoring is that it most certainly makes it easier for tuning not to have to fish all over the place due to the beckets being on all different angles because of a "who cares about where the Becket lines up" mentality. I too, Israel have given over 100 technical exams and still do. While it does not state precisely on the exam and I personally think that it should, as to where the beckets should line up, I do look for that and if they do not line up, I point it out to the examinee regardless. As I said, to me, looks means something. From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Israel Stein Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 1:40 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] pianotech Digest, Vol 12, Issue 54 ---- Sent: Monday, October 5, 2009 6:36:13 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Gerald Groot wrote: >On the PTG exam's, looks counts too. Too much glue, to little. Hammers lined up? >Hammers the right height in relation to the others around it? Proper size key bushings >used? Proper height and depth of felt? To much or to little glue used? To many coils >around the tuning pins? Not enough? Splicing done correctly? Extra wire not touching >nearby strings? Etc…. Sorry, Ger. These are all aspects of functionality. Not one item mentioned above is strictly cosmetic. They have to do with evenness of touch, tone (due to strike point placement), strength of joint, stability of tuning, action noise and true sloppy workmanship - like dripping glue all over the place, which truly indicates lack of care/skill. Please tell us, Ger, does the PTG exam require that beckets be lined up? I know the answer (having administered over 100 of them) - but do you? Actually, the workmanship that I've seen where the beckets are not lined up, coils not tight, tuning pins not level etc., also become a sign that hammers are not properly lined up, spaced, mated or voiced and neither is regulation always done as it should be. Like I said before, it's a cop out in my opinion. Here we go again. Coils not tight may cause tuning instability. Tuning pins unlevel may cause great variations in torque - and difficulties in tuning. Personally I never notice any difference in tuning difficulty between beckets that are lined up and aren't - not a significant detail. It may just be one of those self-fulfilling profecies for those who do pay attention. Or not - who knows, people are different from each other... Where I come from (and where I live now) I have seen every possible variation, Ger. Meticulously rebuilt instruments where the beckets aren't lined up (but nice coils and tuning pins level). Instruments that are as beautiful to behold as they are to play with every little detail perfectly in place. And beautifully lined up beckets on real dogs - and I am talking Steinways, not Esteys... So let's cut the generalizations. This is one of those little details that Shakespeare's words apply to in spades - lots of sound and fury signifying nothing. Well, maybe signifying very little. I refer you to recent posts from Ron Nossaman and David Love - who don't make your leap of "logic" to "anything with unlined up beckets is crap" while not discounting the value of lined up beckets either. Israel Stein _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 091004-0, 10/04/2009 Tested on: 10/5/2009 2:38:09 PM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091005/1eb44889/attachment-0001.htm>
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