Piano Rescue Stories
PIANO LOCATED OUTDOORS"For the last 20 years our company has rented an upright piano for the Nova
Scotia Choral Federation choir camp. The piano is located in an open stage
area. Open to the elements. Temperatures from 49 F at night to 85 F to 90
F day time and high humidity 80% +. The camp runs the full month of August
and the piano is required to be tuned each Saturday morning before 8 am plus
1 hour drive each way. When I tune the piano I'm lowering the pitch a good
1/4 semitone each week. Wayne Walker |
DURING FLOODING RAINS, SYSTEM HOLDS TUNING"Recently in Georgia we have had rain and floods of historic amounts. 15 inches in less than 10 hours in some areas. Immediately, piano owners were calling and asking what had happened to the tuning of their piano and why were the keys so hard to play or even sticking. I explained that it was a result of excessive humidity. On the other hand, the pianos in which I had installed a Piano Life Saver System were rock solid with very little if any change in pitch and no sticking keys. There could never be a better name for a product than life saver because that's truly what it is. I have installed these systems for over 35 years and am convinced it the most affordable and dependable protection one could ever give their piano. " James Miller |
OLDER PIANO REVIVED"Two years ago a customer of mine wanted to have a Dampp-Chaser System put in her little console piano. It had been her childhood instrument and her 11-year old daughter now played it. I had recommended they look for a new piano as this one was having tuning instability and some very low torque tuning pins as well as a cracked soundboard. It was ready for a replacement. The daughter is a very sentimental type and cried her eyes out at the thought of losing her beloved piano. So the mother begged me to install a Dampp-Chaser System in it. I finally agreed with a disclaimer, saying I could not guarantee that it would help enough. Six months later, after installing the vertical System the difference in the piano was amazing! Not only did it tune better than I had ever been able to but the crack in the soundboard had closed. Two years later and I am still pleased at the pianos improvement. It was a dramatic example to me of the importance of any piano at any age can benefit from the Damp-Chaser System." Sue Armstrong, RPT |
PIANO MOVED FROM ARIZONA TO THE BEACH"This concerns a Baldwin M Grand that came to Pawleys Island SC after being in Arizona all of its life. I told the owners they needed to install a full Dampp-Chaser from day one because of the huge differences in humidity in Arizona and SC. They waited 6 months after I had given them a written proposal and tried to contact them repeatedly. When they finally called me in March 2007 - 6 or 7 months after it came to SC- I could not believe what shape it was in. Tuning pins on the top octaves had nearly come completely out of the block with 1/2 of their threads exposed. String coils had become loose. The bass end was so flat when you played up from A0 the notes got lower and lower. A crack had opened in the soundboard. I installed a full Dampp-Chaser with a wet Humidistat and Undercover. I pounded the pins back into the block (supported of course with jacks), performed string and coil tightening and leveling (using a coil impact lifter) and did pitch raises etc. The System produced critical improvements: tuning pins have stayed tight, the bass strings are stable and hold pitch just fine, the keys and action are not sticking, and the crack in the soundboard is closed. At my July 2009 visit, the pitch was close to 440, only 1 cent sharp (used Sanderson Accu-tuner). It's obvious the Dampp-Chaser with the Undercover brought the piano back from the brink." Jim Kelly |
STEINWAY D IN OPEN AIR TENT" Recently, I called to do a series of tunings for a concert series with a well-known artist from California and a Symphony Orchestra. The Festival ran with a series of concerts over a span of three weeks. The Festival was held at a ski resort on top of a mountain and the piano, a Steinway D 9 ft. was in an open air tent. The first time I got there, the action felt kind of sluggish and a damper was not dropping time with the rest. The humidity level was 60% and the temp. 84. The application of a little Protec didn't fix the damper but it was a little better. Because of the concerts, I did not want to do extensive action work. The 2nd time I arrived to do a tuning, the temp. was 86 and the humidity fluctuated during the duration of the tuning from 61% to 53 and back to 60. At this time, the original damper was not dropping well and a four or five others were starting to be sluggish and the B below middle C developed a sluggish Center. The people were in a panic. The piano was almost not playable and the worst scenario was there was a possibility of canceling the concert. I had a 50 watt Dampp-Chaser Bar and Humidistat in my car and even thouigh this was very unorthodox, the only thing I could think of was to place the bar and Humidistat on top of the plate, close the piano up completely and cover it with a moving pad and let the heat circulate. Well, that solved the problem, the concert went on and when later on I arrived in the week to do the last tuning, the piano was fine, no sluggish anything and believe it or not, the tuning was almost right at A-440." Roger Sethman, BMC, MM |
SLUGGISH HAMMERS PROBLEM SOLVED"I have many customers whose pianos were very unstable as far as pitch but after the installation of the Piano Life Saver these pianos are now settled down and it is possible to set a good tuning without having to perform a pitch correction. I even have one customer on Cape Cod whose piano had very sluggish hammers due to the high humidity and with the installation of an extra dehumidifier bar under the key bed the problem went away in about three days and has never returned. I can see the advantages of the Piano Life Saver system from many points of view but the most important advantage from the system is the reduction in the soundboard movement resulting in the greater longevity of the soundboard and the fact that this results in greater tuning stability for me as a tuner/technician and for my happy customers." Peter Place |
FROM A PIANO RESTORER"I want my rebuilt pianos to please their owners by providing exemplary tuning stability and long life. That's why I include a Piano Life Saver System in every rebuild proposal." Mike Spalding, RPT |
ACTION AND KEYS RESTORED TO WORKING ORDER"I had a customer with a Yamaha M500 series console that he had neglected for a few years. I tuned it, recommended a Dampp-Chaser System and pointed out that the keys were sticking badly, and the action was out of regulation with a lot of "double-striking" of the hammers due to lost motion and stated that the piano needed a 2nd tune to get the pitch raised after the installation process. He decided to have the System installed. Well, when I came back, they said everything seemed to be okay now after having the System running for a month. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was as though another technician came in and did the work. There were no keys sticking and it needed absolutely nothing in the way of regulation. All the "double-strikes" were gone, no play in the action and all it needed was the pitch raised to A440!" Jerry Malone |
