[pianotech] YC Capo Bars

[Don Mannino]

John,

That looks like the Zinc alloy inserts that were used for a short time in
about 1994 or so.  They not only were too soft, they made the piano very
hard to tune! Very sticky material with steel wire pressing against it.

They later changed them to brass, which tuned a lot smoother but tended to
make the tone more zingy, and create more duplex noise because the angle
through the capo area was fairly shallow.

I agree with your solution to use brass rod, but you might want to increase
the counter-bearing angle a little while you're at it.

Don Mannino

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Jon Page
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 2:07 PM
To: pianotech list
Subject: [pianotech] YC Capo Bars

A while ago I posted pix of a YC with the treble wire dug into the capo
bars. I have the capo inserts removed and here's the photos.

I called YC and they do not support this model 1996 Weber anymore.

I found some round rod and tested it by hammering a piece of music wire onto
it. The wire flattened but the rod didn't budge.

I'll have a machine shop plane down the surface and mill a groove to hold
the rod at the appropriate height. I'll not worry about the duplex, I'll
make it straight.

So much for making a quick buck on a spec piano.
-- 

Regards,

Jon Page