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On older pianos, we often hear and see the hammers bouncing on the strings like little bobbleheads. Here are a few causes and fix on an old Baldwin grand piano. Each piano may take different approaches of problem solving. The fallboard rod holder on this spinet snapped into two pieces. The piano part suppliers don't sell replacements anymore. My mentor Debbie Cyr and good technician friend Hillary York came up with the idea of rod/pipe holders at handwear stores. So here is the adventure.
A Steinway piano technician asked our shop to rebuild his client's piano. He required that the parts to be traditional Steinway parts instead of the WNG parts which we usually use. For this unique request, the shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley ordered parts from both Steinway factory and Schaff Piano Supply. I believe, to contact Steinway, one may need to email [email protected] to see the catalogue and price. The cloth cushion on old Steinway sostenuto brackets becomes worn and discolored after decades of use. Every time when we rebuild an action at Absolute Piano, the cloth is changed. The cloth making process is instructed by the shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley. This experience is totally personal. The methods are yet to be improved. Thanks to our big boss for teaching us this process. Gratitude to Dana, the tool maker. Texting, in my mind, to Mr. David Betts wherever he is, maybe fly fishing in Vermont? This is how we darken the casted letters on the cast iron plate at Absolute Piano as of June 2024. The skill and method are yet to be improved and/or modified. This note is what I noticed during this recent capstan and backcheck installation. Skills and methods are to be improved. The installation videos and information can be found on WNG website. There are also PDF instructions available. This process took about five hours as of May 2024. The old cap is sawn off and the root planed smooth. The original bridge height was 28mm at treble and 34mm at bass. We want to give the new cap 3mm extra height to play with. According to the current root height, we need the bridge cap to be at least 17mm in thickness.
The pedal bottom plate screw is broken, half of it's head is missing. We couldn't find a machine screw the same size with the original one. Only screws at a slightly larger size are available at our local hardware store. Instead of replacing one screw, we decided to replace all three for uniformity. The new screw size is 1/4-28 or 1/4" in total diameter, 28 threads per inch.
This method was noticed during a tour at Mason & Hamlin piano factory in Haverhill, MA years ago. Renner Academy near Phoenix, AZ teaches hammer angling in a similar way. As always, this is essentially a note to myself. The current method may change in the future. On the afternoon before this piano was going to be moved back to her school, I was putting all parts together. The fallboard didn't want to lift all the way up. It turned out that we raised the key height too high according to the new action design. The felt on bottom of fallboard was rubbing on key tops. About a week before leaving the shop, the piano shall be put together to make sure nothing goes wrong at the last minute.
This is the first time I install a Renner backaction by myself following instruction from shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley. This plate receives new hitch pins. With a nail punch like this, the old pins are punched out from underneath. Pay attention not to enlarge the holes.
This is another ongoing tribute, in my life, to Piano Technology mentor Mr. David Betts and Ms. Debbie Cyr. At the piano shop, the owner prefers DMT diamond stones. They are heavy and solid. I work with his set the best I can but found that the course stone looses its grit very quickly, and quickly it becomes close to "fine". Recommended by fine woodworker Mr. John Cameron located in Gloucester, MA, I bought a set of water stone. They work much better, not loosing grit. The stone brand and price vary greatly. So far, this set of Naniwa water stone from Sharpeningsupplies is working well. |
