[pianotech] Wegman grand

[George F Emerson]

The only Wegman I have seen was an upright.  It has no pinblock, per se. 
There is a chunk of wood where the pinblock should be.  It is a structural 
member of the back, but it is not functionally a pinblock.  The tuning pins 
do not penetrate it and are not imbedded in it.  The tuning pin look like a 
traditional tuning pin with the threaded part of its length cut off.  The 
pins are held in place by friction with the plate itself.  The plate holes, 
to engage the pins, are an inverted teardrop shape.  The tension of the 
string pulls the pin into the narrower part of this teardrop hole.  When a 
string breaks, the pin just pops out of the plate hole.  In the absence of 
tension on the string, there is nothing to hold the pin in  place.  There is 
no pinblock to be replaced.  The big problem is the stringing process. 
Where a single length of string doubles around a single hitch pin, the two 
tuning pins have to be turned simultaneously until there is enough tension 
on both segments to produce enough friction between the pins and the 
teardrop holes that the pins don't just fall out.  Maybe the grands are 
different, or maybe they evolved differently over time, but this is an 
example of the one Wegman in my personal experience.

Frank Emerson

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Anderson" <anrebe at gmail.com>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 9:54 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Wegman grand


> didn't Wegmans have that steel block with a tightening bolt for the 
> tuning pin or some such thingee?
> Andrew Anderson
>
> On May 6, 2010, at 10:18 AM, Chuck Behm wrote:
>
>> Hi list - I've been asked to give a ballpark figure (a long distance 
>> away - it'll be a couple hour drive to take a look) for new  pinblock, 
>> pins and strings on a Wegman grand. My question is whether  the grands 
>> had the patented tuning pins, and if they do, will that  make a 
>> difference as to the type of pinblock. I've dealt with a  number of 
>> Wegman uprights, but never a Wegman grand before.
>> Before I get serious at all about this, I'll schedule an afternoon  to 
>> drive out and look it over, but I would just appreciate any  advice from 
>> those of you who have worked on them. Chuck Behm
>