Initial Key Cleaning Completed

All the important missing action parts have been ordered for Xena, the 1883 Schubert upright undergoing rehab. In addition, all new hammers, damper felts are on the way. The piano supply company shipped three days later than promised; but it's just as well. I'm using the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend to focus on the keys. And I'll need it! I just spent close to 10 hours giving them their initial cleaning taking off years of dirt.

With all the gross dirt gone, I can now see what I'm facing over the rest of the weekend.

My client made an early decision that he wanted to save the old ivory keys rather than put in a shiny new replacement set. Aesthetically for the age of the piano I think it's the correct decision. However, after removing the first layer of dirt, it's clear that the ivories have aged unevenly. It's a larger job than I'd envisioned. They are discolored significantly and have a large number of blotchy yellow spots. My next step will be to polish out them out with diatomaceous earth to see if I can even them out. The sharps actually look pretty good -- real ebony I'm suspecting -- so I may not have to relacquer them as I'd originally thought. Lose one, gain one.

After the polishing is done 14 key tops are missing and/or damaged so I'll be able to put to good use the old ivory tops I was able to find back in September. There are also 7 key fronts that need to be removed. My plan there is to use the material from the damaged key tops, cut it to size for the fronts and replace those. Only one sharp key needs to be reglued so that's very good news. By the time I get all this done, it'll probably be Monday. Hopefully, the UPS shipment will arrive by then so I can start working on the action.

The clock is ticking on the Christmas delivery; but if I can stay focused I think I'll have it done with a week to spare! If anyone is reading this, wish me luck. :)

Stay tuned for the Sunday evening and/or Monday update.

Getting down with Xena

Today has been one of those quiet productive days in the cottage. There's been a thunderstorm about every hour on the hour so the temptation to run errands has been nearly non-existent. The cats hate thunderstorms so they're hiding -- one under the bed, the other in a cupboard. No interruptions there. And -- up until now no computer -- the lighting strikes were so close I'd powered everything down and pulled plugs to protect all the electronics. Nothing to do but finally get to work on Xena.

Today's major accomplishment was unpacking all the tools & parts that came in, setting up the new jig so I can work on Xena. Photos of the action were made and sent with inquiries to the supply houses. I'm pretty sure I know what needs doing--or not (better to leave certain things alone) -- but a second opinion from the folks who do it every day isn't going to hurt. And, probably will save time, effort and money in the long run.

Another accomplishment of the week was locating the old ivories needed for Xena's multiple gaps and gashes in her keyboard. After several fruitless inquiries Roger Aycock in Georgia gave me a lead on some folks in South Carolina. "We often just send the keys to a lady in Florida who makes jewelry out of them," related Danny of Boggs Piano Service http://boggspiano.com/index.html Apparently, they restore enough old pianos where the owners don't want the old ivories to have a small supply on hand. One source I'd contacted wanted $45 per head so I didn't know what to expect...only $1 each! "After all they're used," said Danny. They even shipped them before getting the check from me. Those ivories should be arriving early this week so I can begin working on the keyboard while waiting to get my parts quotes from the various suppliers.



And, now there's a third

Zelda and Yuri (who have both been sorely neglected over the past few months) have a new roommate. Or at least as much of it, i.e. the keyframe, keys and action, that can fit in the cottage presently. She's an 1883 Schubert upright that's been in storage for the past 20-30 years. I think for my consistent naming purposes she'll get called Xena, but perhaps more appropriate might be Phoenix as she's literally needing resurrection.

It's a sweet story, however. And her presence will also serve to get me refocused on the piano technician part of my journey in addition to the tuning.

A young man called me about three weeks ago to see if I would be willing to rebuild his wife's great grandmother's piano -- actually the piano the wife as a little girl first learned to play on. After great grandma passed on the piano was put in storage where mice feasted on its innards and excess humidity took its toll ... and where Xena was forgotten. It's his dream to give his wife the piano tied up with a big red bow on Christmas morning this year.

After looking it over I realized that I could rebuild the action within that period of time and get it playing again. Though there's no room left in the cottage to work on the cabinet. So he and a buddy (with some consulting help from me) are going to take on that work in a separate space.

The work began this past week. Before separating the action from the harp and strings the first of what will be -- no doubt -- several pitch raises took place. The piano was anywhere from 50 cents to a full pitch flat throughout; but, amazingly, with some very careful maneuvering to break off the encrusted rust on the tuning pins, it came up to pitch without a single broken string. My guess is that the instrument was probably restrung perhaps as recently as 40 years ago. Much of the rest of the action and harp show a lot of corrosion; but the strings show very little in comparison. And they still sing --- not the brittle sound that poor Zelda's 100 year old strings have.

And they are about the only thing that won't require huge amounts of work between now & Christmas: action, hammers, dampers, backchecks, damaged keys OMG!!! and other stuff that I haven't even figured out yet.

So Thursday we made the separation. The solid mahogany cabinet went to the secret refinishing shop. And the action is here at the cottage with Zelda and Yuri. Guess, they'll be neglected a while longer; but this job will allow me to have the resources to address their issues later -- Zelda's cracked pinblock and need for new strings and Yuri's restringing. I think I'll have enough to keep me busy during the autumn and winter.

Now I just have to figure out how to balance my life better: the day job that pays the bills, producing the Music in Paradise shows http://www.musicinparadise.com/ plus doing the PR and fundraising, tuning as many pianos as I can, volunteering at MCC and Keys Chorale and, occasionally, getting in a photoshoot.

Stay tuned for the next tuning. Xena rules the roost for now.



Floods, concerts & more...

Despite the flood in the cottage that has severely compromised Zelda's action, there's been a lot of positive energy related to Keys Tuning of late.

But first, let's dispense with the flood.

I was hurrying to squeeze in an additional appointment two Saturdays ago to meet with Mrs. Ford before tuning a gorgeous grand a few blocks away. The meeting was to discuss rebuilding her 1919 upright -- amazingly, still under consideration despite my assessment of the piano's condition and its potential value; that is, it would cost more to repair it than it'll ever be worth from a financial standpoint. There had been, apparently, a family conference to discuss the matter. The practical son had weighed in on the financial merits and the daughter who grew up learning to play on the instrument in its better days still saw value in its repair. After my meeting, it's likely the piano will not be returned to its former glory; but we left the matter open. Sentiment is yet a strong motivator.

In my rush to get there I unknowingly left a trickle of water running where I'd washed out Ranger's bowl and I left the bowl in the basin. The combination of the two -- small continuous flow and drain blocked by bowl -- resulted in approximately two inches of water throughout the cottage when I returned four hours later. Zelda just hasn't been the same since.

The surge of humidity at her feet swelled all the felts; most noticeably none of the damper felts seat properly anymore. Every note rings for three to four seconds after it has been played -- making for an unbearable cacophony. After about two weeks they are drying out a bit -- the ring has reduced from several seconds to just a second -- arghh -- so for the moment, the old girl is only good for plunking out the melodies I'm rehearsing for my next concert. And, of course, now I've another skill set I'll need to add to my list of things to learn -- repairing dampers.

I'm keeping up with tuning pianos -- several really nice grands lately; but more importantly, a lowly spinet, not tuned in over eight years, taught me something really important.

The spinet was miserably out of tune. In the treble it was a full pitch flat and most of the bass and tenor was at least a semi tone flat. I had to do a pitch raise to get it close before tuning it and was quietly cursing myself as the tuning was one I'd donated for a charity auction. My normal first-time 3 hour tuning quickly became five and half hours. Still, when I was done -- besides the obvious relief on the part of the family that I would soon leave -- there was a moment.

Mom played the piano for a moment, smiled broadly. But before she could say 'thanks', her 10 year old daughter ran over, hugged her knees and laughed "Oh, mommy, when we sing, it won't sound like a funeral anymore!" It was the best thank you I could ever have expected.

Every piano -- grand or spinet, great condition or poor -- deserves to be the best it can be.

Having said that, I admit to looking forward to my assignments this coming week -- a 9' Boesendorfer concert grand and a 7' Steinway grand.

After the next week of holiday related tunings, I'm hoping to hunker down to the books and start working on Yuri again. The goal now is to pass my exams at the Piano Technicians Guild annual conference in July 2011.

Changing, re-arranging

I've been looking for a space to have a piano repair workshop here in Key West. Despite the fact that much (as in the rest of the country) retail space is empty and has been for a while, landlords aren't budging any on rents. An attorney friend explained that if they start reducing rents for commercial properties then it reduces the appraised value of their property so most tend to be intractable on the rent issue. Still, it seems to me a reduced value and some money in your pocket makes more sense than an empty, deteriorating space. But then I'm not a landlord.

The cottage is already filled with Zelda & Yuri. The two grands and their component parts arranged in different spots take up about half of the available space in the cottage. Not to mention that in order to have enough room to make breakfast and/or sleep at night I need to put away whatever I'm working on plus all the tools. Ranger's been a little cramped for space as well -- he's been having to share his favorite table with Yuri. It's a bit of a Catch 22 -- there's (barely) enough room to work on the two instruments and not enough room to take on paid assignments.

This issue came to a head yesterday.

A vivacious, elderly lady called me a few days ago to look at her piano, as it turns out a 1919 Stultz & Co. old upright. When she called she said, "nothing works, and I'd like to have it fixed." And, when I looked at it yesterday she was right -- nothing works. Thirty keys are compromised for one reason or another, the tuning pins & strings are corroded, the hammers are actually concave from years of playing, it's horribly out of tune, and the list could go on. The case is in relatively good shape, as are the harp, pinblock, sound board and bridges. So, essentially you have a decent frame upon which to put a new instrument -- not much more. To fix it would cost more than the instrument will ever be worth.

I explained this to Mrs. Ford and asked "why do you want this piano repaired?" Her reply was "it just needs to be right. Besides my daughter comes once or twice a year, and she plays." I guess my look must have been a little more than incredulous as she chuckled, "look I'm 87. I've got some money and I'd just like to have it working. So just tell me how much it'll cost to put it back together."

Then it struck me 'this is another gift'. The money is irrelevant to her, it's about leaving a legacy of beauty for her children. So, I'm going to put together a very, very fairly priced proposal for her, then see if she wishes to go forward.

If she does, it would mean some signficant start-up income for me, not to mention it would give me the opportunity to thoroughly rework an old upright in addition to the two grands. There are enough diferences between a grand & an upright to make it another important part of my learning curve. But, it did bring to a head the space issue. As it stands currently, I don't have room in the cottage and so far I haven't found a reasonable place to rent where I could create a workshop.

Usually when obstacles like this come up the universe is telling you something. So after I left her yesterday, I went to a friend's house to restring a missing bass string. I explained to Sheri about the lady's insistence on fixing the piano; but that it didn't matter as I wouldn't be able to take the job for lack of space. She just looked at me and said "Mrs. Ford deserves to have a beautiful instrument in her life. You'll find a way."

When I came back to the cottage I started looking at the space differently, then started re-arranging everything. Tools came up front where I could get at them more easily. My landlady's son came by. We talked about  moving out some of the furniture when he comes back in December, which would leave me room for a work bench. For now, the universe is telling me 'make do with the resources you have and build the business on a more solid financial foundation.' By simply removing furniture he can use at one of their other properties, I can make room for the business here and still have a comfortable place to live. For now, it's enough. I just needed to see the space differently.

On a totally different topic, there has been a lot happening with two other aspects of the developing business in the last couple of weeks.

Yuri's keys are now all functional and, with one exception, perfectly balanced. Even the A#86 that was eaten through with termites (fortunately they focused primarily on the key frame and munched their way through only one of the keys) has been repaired. Next steps are to start removing the old corroded tuning pins and piano wires. I've been repairing some other instruments so I have some practical experience with restringing now. I'm devouring the 'bible' on restringing -- Travis' A Guide to Restringing so am at the point where I think I'm ready to take on Yuri's total restringing job.

On the tuning front, I've been slowly taking on more clients. Still trying to limit myself somewhat until I get myself more organized. The latest was a preconcert tuning for a professional ensemble. Though my aural tunings have been (with one exception) very good, I couldn't take a chance on blowing the tuning for a concert. So I drained my last savings and bought a Sanderson Accu-Tuner IV (SAT IV) which arrived several days in advance of the concert tuning. I love it!!!

Unlike most machines which simply provide pitch verification on a particular note, the SAT IV is designed to hear the harmonics throughout the instrument so that when you're setting the temperament, it's hearing how in tune the piano is with itself as well as conventional pitch. It then makes the subtle adjustments of a few cents in either direction to account for the inharmonicity of the particular instrument. As a consequence, it's helping me to speed up my tuning time as I'm now not spending an hour running tests on my aural work. That alone is worth the money; but also -- as a confidence builder -- it's confirmed with the pianos I've done previously that my aural work was accurate. Whew!!! Maybe there really is a career here after all.

The next picture has nothing to do with anything except Ranger hates storms. And we've been having quite a few lately. This is where I've been finding him -- if I can find him at all. I really don't know how such a large cat can make himself small enough to fit into this space.



Sixteen keys, and what do you get?

After another few hours last night I managed to polish Yuri's capstans down through F57. Another sixteen keys and only 56 more to go! The corrosion on the top creates extra friction making the keys less responsive to the pianist's touch. So, technically there's no reason to polish anything more than the top of the capstan since it's the only part that touches the action, But there's something aesthetically pleasing to me to see the brass gleaming against the deep wood tones of Yuri's hundred year old keys.

Looking at my efforts from a purely functional viewpoint, it's a waste of time to polish the entire capstan. In fact, once the keys and action are reinstalled, the next person who sees them (probably corroded once again) will be a piano technician 20 years from now called in to make the next set of repairs on Yuri. Yet, there's a part of me that believes Yuri's touch and tone will be that much sweeter because of the extra care I'm giving him now. Irrational, I know; but this is a labor of love after all.

Finishing up the capstan polishing project will probably take the rest of this evening after work and most of tomorrow. If there's time left I'll rebuild the one key destroyed by termites A#86; then move on to cleaning the keytops. I'm hopeful the job done in 1948, which replaced the keytops, will have stood the test of time and I won't have to replace them this time around. It looks as if it was an excellent job; but with all the dirt of the last few years of neglect, I won't know until they are cleaned and polished. That will be another week's labor of love; but at least one more visible.

In the meantime, I keep getting requests for tunings. One, especially has me scared nearly witless. 

 

About 3 weeks ago I tuned a friend's 7' Steinway and his mother's 7' Yamaha, both amazing instruments, and both in need of tuning. He's a professional singer with a very exacting ear. He said he'd tried dozens of tuners over the years and these were among the best tunings he'd ever had. Stroke, stroke. Well, he got it into his head to call the artistic director for Seraphic Fire, which is doing the premiere of their next world tour as a benefit in Marathon on November 3rd at Saint Pablo's. He arranged for me to do two concert tunings, one two days before the concert, the other the day of the concert. We're talking world class musicians here! I should have said 'no' but didn't.

 

Then last Saturday I had my first less-than-adequate tuning for another professional musician (also with an exacting ear), the pianist at Old Stone and the Keys Chorale's new accompanist. When I left Saturday, he played for a half-hour and declared his 6' Yamaha wonderful. Then I saw him at chorale on Tuesday and there was -- well, a look -- that said something was amiss. I asked how the tuning was holding and he went on at length before the rehearsal started about how it wasn't! Obviously, I couldn't sleep that night. And went over on Thursday to see what I'd done wrong.

 

He was, in fact, correct. About six or seven notes hadn't held and some unisons had decayed. I don't know if it was the weather (torrential downpours from hurricane Paula's bands) or something I'd done; but I decided to give him his money back. Normally, I would have offered to redo it on the spot; but he has a friend who's been tuning for Steinway for 30 years visiting for the weekend -- better to let him correct the situation and part, hopefully, good company.

 

The point of all this is to say, his accurate assessment of my work was important feedback to get -- especially before the Seraphic Fire concert. Up until now, the tunings have been pretty great. But for whatever reason, it didn't hold. It was a wake up call to remind me that I'm still a beginner and need to keep working on the craft. On the other hand, if I mess up the Petrof grand at St. Pablo's I might as well move to the Australian bush before I get another tuning job in the Keys. It'll either make or break my reputation. No pressure -- it's just a career!

 

So, this week I cashed in my remaining savings, asked for vacation pay instead of taking time off this year and purchased a Sanderson Accu Tuner www.accu-tuner.com . It's due to arrive next Tuesday so I'll have an opportunity to practice with it on a couple of other instruments before I take on the Petrof being used by Seraphic Fire.

 

It's a pretty amazing device -- it doesn't tune for you; but hears the harmonics throughout the entire instrument and helps you correct the temperament that's specific for that individual piano. Essentially, it gives you the kind of feedback you'd get if you were sitting at the side of master technician who's been doing tunings for decades. 

 

In fact, that's what it is...the ear of a master. Paul Sanderson, was the chairman of the physics department at Harvard in the 70s with a specialty in sound and a love of pianos. He started building the device in the 80s, using both his ear for the 'art' of the feedback and his knowledge of physics and sound waves to turn it into a set of algorithims for a computer program. It's now in its fourth generation -- the latest just having just come on the market in late 2008.

 

With that thought in mind and a SAT IV arrival eminent early next week, I'm putting aside my fears of Seraphic Fire. Today, after work, I'll plan to put in some productive hours with Yuri to polish another sixteen capstans.

What do you get? I'm not sure; but there is a certain satisfaction in the process.

Yuri's keyframe is functional!!!

Last weekend I'd finished the major rebuilding work for Yuri's bionic (half plastic, half organic) key frame.  Countless hours of filling, sanding, re-filling, more sanding went into its reconstruction. Then starting much too late a week ago Sunday, I put everything back together only to discover everything was out of level and it didn't work! Some of the keys played; yet others right next to those which played would not. Some sections played and others would not. After a moment of panic and despair, I realized this wasn't going to be a problem I could solve at 10:30 PM after having worked on the keyframe for almost two days. And, the logic of why one thing would work right next to something that didn't eluded my understanding that night.

By midnight I had the tools put away, Yuri's disabled action and keyframe back in the case and covered, and I hit the bed realizing any resolution was another week away. I e-mailed my instructors at the Randy Potter School, hoping they might be able to give me a clue regarding resource material; but -- even today -- haven't heard back. I'm beginning to wonder if something is wrong out in Bend, Oregon. Exams aren't getting returned in a timely manner anymore. Phone calls & e-mails are going unanswered. But that's the subject (hopefully not) of another post. So this past Saturday after work, I started refilling and resanding -- got everything back in level, attached the action, slid it back into the case and voila second time was the charm.

Yuri's key frame finally is functional. All the tolerances are correct. And the old boy sounded his first few twangs in several years!

But, oh my gosh! The termite ridden key frame is just the beginning. Fortunately, only one key #86 is damaged by termites and I'm pretty sure now with my key frame experience I can rebuild that. Every metal part has been corroded over his 102 years. There's absolutely no doubt that all the strings and tuning pins will have to be replaced -- that twang wasn't just a tuning issue! There are a few thunks and zings as well.

But one step at a time -- keys first. Yesterday I spent most of the day repolishing the front rail key pins and balance rail pins before putting in new felt and paper punchings in order balance the keys; which, by the way, are weighted perfectly. Unlike my bones, they still have a wonderful spring. I replaced some of the missing damper felts at the back of the keys and repaired the leather back checks. They're a little dry; but are in amazingly good shape considering their age. Tonight I started polishing the capstans you see in the picture. Each octave takes about two hours. So there are quite a few hours to go before anything gets put back together; but at least now I know it'll work.

Before anything else goes back into the case or the action gets re-attached to the keys, I need to make a decision about the key tops. I found a technican's note in pencil on key 88 dated 1948. "Stieff, Levy, Replaced keytops." Short, but to the point with a little history. And a little clue as to who may have owned Yuri some 60 years ago when the keys were refurbished. The person who deacqusitioned Yuri to my care said they piano had been in the same Key West family for 80 years; but didn't have any other information. I'm going to try cleaning them first. There's only a little yellowing so I'm hopeful that's at least one thing that I won't have to replace.

So for tonight, I'm seeing lots of labor ahead plus some other major decisions down the  road such as the pros and cons of keeping and/or replacing the action given the corrosion. So far, I've only found  three badly damaged wippens. They look as if they can be repaired. It's the question of long-term life vs. changing the touch of the instrument that made it uniquely a Stieff. I'm really going to have to do some historical research before I make that call.

Yet, despite that decision and a few others like it, with the bionic key frame both strong and functional, I know the old boy can probably have at least another hundred years of useful life. Somehow, that gives me enough comfort to get to bed early tonight and have a good night's sleep.