On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 5:58 PM, James Grebe <jamesgrebe at charter.net> wrote: > It looks like the strings on a Yammy gr a customer used alcohol to remove > magic marker that his son put on the strings. Almost like plating came off > James > James Grebe Est. 1962 > Piano Tuner-Technician > Creator of Custom Caster Cups > Creator of fine Writing Instruments > www.grebepiano.com > 1526 Raspberry Lane > Arnold, MO 63010 > (314) 608-4137 > Become what you believe > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Mitchell" <tpa2sfr at pacbell.net> > To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 1:31 PM > Subject: [pianotech] U1 - stained bass strings > > > I've been working with Yamaha on this, but the best we've come up with >> is >> that some sort of atmospheric contaminant is attacking the strings. >> Thought >> I would try this group to see if anyone has seen the problem. This is on a >> 4 >> year old Yamaha U1. >> >> >> >> As you can (hopefully) see from the pictures, this is a very unusual >> phenomena. It looks to be some kind of ink or marker in some very odd >> places. It occurs on ALL the wound bass strings under the damper felts >> and >> at the hammer strike points. For the damper felts, the stain is exactly >> at >> the contact point between the felts and strings. For the monochords, the >> stain wraps around the string. For the bi-chords, the stain is between >> the >> strings from the wedge. It's as if someone used ink-soaked dampers and >> hammers to check for damper contact and strike point. (The hammers and >> dampers themselves on this piano are normal and show no signs of the >> stain). >> The stain is not just on the surface of the coils -- it seems to be all >> the >> way into the grooves. >> >> >> >> Furthermore, both the L and R strings on B1 (as well as some other >> strings) >> have the markings smeared from the dampers almost up to the tuning pins. >> And there is an every-fourth-string marking again closer to the tuning >> pins. >> All the strings look completely normal and free of the markings below the >> dampers. I tried some fine emery paper on a B1 string and the marks >> seemed >> to scrape off fairly easily. I didn't want to try anything more >> aggressive >> like alcohol, wire brushing or steel wool. >> >> >> >> The customer's concern is that at a minimum, this diminishes the resale >> value of her piano and at worst, might be something that would accelerate >> string wear/breakage. >> >> >> >> Anyone seen this before? >> >> >> >> Rob >> >> >> >> Mitchell Piano Service >> >> (415) 994-1030 >> >> www.mitchellpianoservice.com <http://www.mitchellpianoservice.com/> >> >> >> >> >> > I worked on a P22 years ago that someone had sneezed on, the blued pins had specks of rust ranging from many at the point of the sneeze to just a few at the treble, the farthest point from the sneeze. There were also some specks of rust on the strings. Before I could call the dealer, the minister happened by and saw it, I was notified to go back there a few weeks later to tune a different P22. Mike -- I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Steven Wright Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091020/9c20bf9a/attachment.htm>
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