Rob said: "Greetings,
I just wanted to share a first for me. I've heard many on the list
talk of birdcage actions, overdampers, etc. but I've never experienced
one... that is, until tonight.
I had an evening appointment with a very important client. She's very
connected with the local music community and a recommendation from her
can go a long way towards enhancing my career. So, I already felt a
slight modicum of pressure.
Anyway, I walk in and I find a beautiful black upright. It's away
from the windows and not under any vents. It looks well taken care of.
We chat and I find out this piano used to belong to a famous opera
singer from Germany. It was purchased by her grandmother and
eventually shipped from Germany over to the US and finally ends up
where I find it... So, I open the top lid, check the serial number
(75256) and find out it was built in 1908.
When I removed the front panel, I'm sure I was screaming internally.
I'd just laid eyes on what I knew had to be the notorious birdcage.
It looked like prison bars to me. :-) I won't go into too many
details, but the piano tuned beautifully, other than a few loose
tuning pins that are just barely holding on at the moment. We agreed
to address these later... When I started tuning, it was less than 3
cents off and it hadn't been tuned in about a year.
I have a question... How the heck do you guys mute this thing? Other
than what I ended up doing which was to use a single mute and work my
way up (from the tenor break), and then down (below the break). It
seems like it was designed to make it as hard as possible to reach
anything other than the tuning pin. Any tips or techniques will be
welcomed with open arms.
Well, the end result was that she ended up happy, the piano sounded
beautiful, and I needed a drink. :-)
Here's a couple of photos of the Bluthner. It was really in excellent
condition. Ivory keys were all intact, too.
Regards,"
Rob,
Please refer to these pianos as Over dampers. The Brits get real honked off if we call them "Bird-Cage"pianos.<G>
What you have run into is an Over Strung, Over Damper Piano!<G> Most of the German versions of these pianos are over strung. IMO, this makes them a much better instrument and a bit more challenging to mute. The procedure I have used for many years is as follows:
Remove the key cover, as well as the music desk. This allows the tech to remove the action, which is necessary to the proper muting of the piano(s). On this particular one, a strip mute Above the dampers in the bass and tenor, (just past the 'break') is appropriate. On most flat strung overdamper pianos, one needs to strip mute the entire piano, below the hammers and above the butt flanges, (avoiding possible interference from the strip). I usually use two muting stips. It is necessary to remember where you cannot strip and where the use of a rubber mute is needed. I use the rubber mute with the wire attached, in the tenor area, above the damper tray. I use the Papps Mute for all other muting in the piano. It was designed for these pianos and is the most efficient mute of all!!!<G>
Usually the strip mutes (2), will go most of the way up to the top treble, but fall several notes shy. This area is easily accessed with the Papps Mute. The Papp's Mute will produce a "click" on the attack sound. This sound is very much like the sound of a loose hammer.<G> One needs to learn to ignore this!!!<G> I tune the piano in a typical, start at the temperament, tune down the bass, then tune the unisons up to A3 fashion. All you need to do that is tune all the singles and then tip the action forward and reach over it and remove the strip UP TO A3. This area can be remuted with the rubber mute above the dampers, as there is still some speaking length of the strings accessable.
Once this is accomplished, then tune all the way up to A7 or C8, whichever the piano has. At that point I pull the action out, again, and pull the mute strip every other one. Then tune down to A3. At that point I tip the action forward and pull all of the strips out and tune all the way back up to where the last two of three strings was tuned. (This all sounds more complicated than it is! Not to worry, it's quite simple once you get used to this system.<G>)
I hope this helps many of you who "FEAR" the dreaded "Bird-Cage"!!!<G> They are not complicated and can be really enjoyed for their unique sound
BTW, DO NOT TRY TO MAKE AN OVERDAMPER PIANO "DAMP LIKE A MODERN PIANO"!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!???!
Best Regards to all,
Joe
Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon)
Captain, Tool Police
Squares R I
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090909/9b0db28b/attachment.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC