Re: Ease of player restoration
By Richard Moody
Rick Inzero asked about player actions that are less difficult to restore.
The advice given on Simplex as being a "doozy" is right on IF you have to replace the pouches. Back in the 70's it was common practice to leave pouches if they were still good, ie looked like brand new, and withstood teasing with a voicing needle. Now that most players are are apporaching 80 years old, the pouches are 20 years older, replacing them might become more common. There is no way to tell about pouches without removing the pneumatics. So buyng a player that needs rebuilding is risky in terms extra work that may need to be done now that didn't need to be 20 years ago. It can take up to three hours to make an accurate estimate, and then the player is torn apart (with the execption of Simplex) and must be rebuilt if it is ever to play again. And you'll probably still wonder about replacing pouches unless they disentigrate upon examination.
Actions to rebuild. This is opinion (so are the statements above) but I would rather rebuild a Standard Action first. Besides being very common, it was well designed, well made, and when rebuilt (right) performs like a dream. Here's a simple test for rebuilt players. Put a roll in and pump it. Stop pumping and see how long it continues to play. Anything over five seconds is getting good. There is another action called Autopiano. Its identifying features are similar to the Standard, the double hole tracking system. As far as I remember, the insides are practically identical and the rebuilding efforts and results are the same also. Then there is Aeolian in the top grades, like Steck, Steinway, Weber. Baldwin is a good one also. Being on the east coast, the Aeolian action might be more common and something to look for.
As far as sending your player unit to be rebuilt, that can be done unless there is no one locally. But keep in mind even if you shipped it out, it still has to be put together, in the piano; the conlrols and supplies tubed right, the tempo regulator adjusted to the roll motor, and rewind shut off valve working, the tracker hooked up and working right, etc etc. A lot of this can be bench tested, but the best bench is the piano itself.
The piano action should be regulated, and any keyboard felts should be replaced be done at this time. A poorly or non regulated piano action can rob the player action of as much efficiency as a leaky rebuild job.
I would think this would be a good place to make an inquiry about sending the stack and parts out for rebuilding.
Richard Moody ptt
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(Message sent Thu 17 Oct 1996, 17:58:29 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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