Re: Pianos without Pin Blocks (981216 MMDigest)

The Mason & Hamlin pianos Bill Chapman reported on were known as
"screw stringers," and they marked Mason & Hamlin's entry into the
piano field from building reed organs.  Stable they were -- after
the tuner had spent the time to pound each string into equalization.

I learned tuning from a man who had worked in the Mason & Hamlin
factory early in the century, and he told me there was very little
room for error in string length upon restringing.

I am told the "machines" (the individual screw devices) are prone to
breakage if not handled with care.  Tuners did not fall in love with
the arrangement, and apparently the Mason & Hamlin management saw the
traditional pin and block arrangement as more advantageous.

The only one I have tuned in over 40 years of work was in Victor
Herbert's former home in Harrison, Maine.  I was on summer break from
college.  It appeared to tune easily and quickly, but when I reported
on it to my teacher, he assured me it would not stay without the
process mentioned above.  I never saw the piano after that.

Bill Maxim