[pianotech] WD40 on pinblock

[Ron Nossaman]

On 8/22/2012 5:47 PM, David Boyce wrote:

>The client also told me that this other tuner
> begged off from tuning the top half-octave or so, on the grounds that he
> wasn't feeling great, and the notes weren't too bad......

Aromatic hydrocarbon poisoning, apparently.


> I can't imagine how he would think that WD40 would confine itself to the
> coils, no matter how carefully he applied it.

Yea, "I can't imagine how he would think" either. Everyone screws up now 
and then, but we hope for some evidence of consciousness and 
professional intent - at least minimal awareness. Seems like most folks 
would consider possible drawbacks to hosing a musical instrument down 
with such stuff. Fortunately most do. I once followed a store tuner on a 
new Yamaha with a "squeaking damper" complaint. He'd rocked the action 
forward and emptied a WD-40 can inside. He soaked strings, bridges, 
soundboard, the entire back side of the action, hammers, dampers, and 
key ends. The squeak, however, eluded him. The piano was trash. That was 
before Barney, unfortunately.

Ron N