[pianotech] How many threads does it take to make a rope

[David Nereson]

    That's not a pressure bar; it's the "upper bridge" or, if it were metal
and part of the plate, the "upper plate bridge," or, as it's called in
"Piano Parts and Their Functions,"  the "bass end bar."   The bar in the
photo applies no pressure anywhere.
    A pressure bar applies a counter pressure downward onto the strings
between the tuning pins and the upper string termination (V-bar or bearing
wire).
         --David Nereson, RPT


On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Larry Fisher RPT <larryf at pacifier.com>wrote:

>   Thread number one
>
> There was a thread a short while back about some wooden pressure bars
> .........
>
> About 15 years ago or better I found a wooden upper bass pressure bar on a
> Wellington upright to be so heavily grooved that the bass strings no longer
> had a clear tone.  (like it was totally groovy baby)  I determined that the
> lack of definite termination was the reason and added a piece of 22 gauge
> wire at the pressure bar string alignment pins.  You have to look fairly
> close at this image but you can see the wire resting on the pins.  I just
> tuned it today and it’s still working fine.  The strings may be steel wound
> and a bit duddy but at least they’re all the same tonality.  Previously
> there was a pronounced difference between the double wound and the single
> wound strings.
>
> [image: 1331571754906]
>
> I can remember my fears on this call  ...........  the fear of charging to
> replace the bass strings and all that goes with that process only to have
> the same dull sound.  Instead I offered to do a cheap fix first and see if
> that worked.  Her grandchild is 6 and doing quite well on the piano.
>
>
> Thread number two  .......
>
> I tuned a piano on Sunday  .......  (what can I say, I was paid extra and
> it was a surprise from the Dad).  New customer, first time on this old
> upright,  (Melostrelle by Steger and Sons) 55 to 60 degrees in the house,
> pitch was close and tone was OK.  In the upper right hand, C52 or so, I
> made 5 passes and it still wouldn’t stay in tune.  It acted like the plate
> was cracked and so I removed the action to have a look.  I thought I could
> see hairline cracks but my fingernail wouldn’t catch anything.  I’ve had
> experience with such things in the past and the crack is usually at the
> strut by the “number three” action support bolt.  I looked there and found
> what I thought was a disruption of the finish in the area.  More such
> things were found lower in the plate in the area of the nose bolt pretty
> much directly below C52.  In each case I couldn’t get my fingernail to
> catch anything.  The camera wouldn’t pick up what I was seeing.  The tuning
> would go sharp in this area as I made my way past it into the following
> octave and when I’d lower them back down, they’d continue to go too low as
> I’d move around in the area correcting others.  The area affected was
> repeatedly around action bolt number three.  Sharp, then flat, then back
> sharp and back again as if something was acting like a lever as I’d change
> the tensions in this area.
>
> Setting the strings came to mind and to that I asked myself, “why only in
> this area”.  Additionally I put forth extra effort to really set each
> string with each pass through the area.  I even tried second guessing the
> amount of drift to achieve a viable result in the end.  Tough gig.
>
> At some point in time the piano had experienced a massive glue failure in
> the entire bass end of the soundboard, top to bottom.   There was a line of
> screws about an inch apart the entire length of the soundboard reconnecting
> the soundboard with the frame/rim.  A tired pot of glue on a Friday
> contributing to additional loss of glue adhesion in the back posts is what
> I’m thinking.  I didn’t feel I needed to pull the piano away from the wall
> to inspect.  I had all the information I needed to “file a report” with the
> customer.  Long story short, the piano is untunable until additional work
> is done and I don’t think the factory will consider replacing the
> instrument at this stage of the game.
>
> It’s not often we run into cracked plates but two symptoms led me to my
> conclusion.  The see saw action of the tuning and the total lack of
> stability in a zone making the piano a total frustration to tune.  After
> two and a half hours of back and forth, I was convinced.  Any one else care
> to comment on this phenomenon?
>
>
> Thread number three  ...............
>
>
> The other day I was cleaning a piano in the customer’s home and my phone
> rang.  I was still wearing my Cyborg earpiece and so I thought I’d continue
> working while talking on the phone.  The caller wanted to chat with me
> about a piano she was considering buying and so we talked about typical
> things like it’s age, condition, the move, tuning prices and a host of
> other things.  As the call went along and I continued to pull dried flower
> bits and Xmas glitter from under the plate, I got the impression she was
> just simply lonely and wanted to talk with someone.  I guess I was more or
> less convinced of this when she asked, “If I have you come tune my piano,
> you aren’t going to pinch my butt are you??”.
>
> .............   I bit my tongue rather hard.
>
> Supposedly the guy that had the piano for sale made the fleeting strike.
>
> I could comment some more BUTT I wouldn’t want this thread to become a
> rope around me sorry neck.
>
> Yep, all in a day’s work eh??  The upper left edge of the map is a fun
> place to live and work.
>
> ......  and with that boys and girls, it’s PBR time.
>
> Lar
>
>
>
>
>
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