Re: [pianotech] Digest for pianotech@googlegroups.com - 5 updates in 2 topics

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Isaac Sadigursky

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Aug 12, 2017, 12:45:07 AM8/12/17
to pian...@googlegroups.com
Google Nick Morris at Majestic pianos in Los Angeles
Nick is not in PTG,but he might be able to help you..Tell him,you are my Friend......
Good Luck...
 Isaac

On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 9:40 PM, <pian...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Regi Hedahl <piano...@gmail.com>: Aug 11 05:54AM -0700

My customer recently purchased a 2003 Kawai RX3. He originally planned on purchasing a Shigeru Kawai SK3 but ended up purchasing the RX3 instead because of the substantial savings. With the savings, he has some money left over to upgrade this piano. Another piano technician highly recommended Abel hammers and WNG shanks & flanges for this piano. I am a fan of Ronsen hammers and have pretty much used that brand exclusively. However, I have never installed hammers on a Kawai so I'm not sure what kind of results I would get. The last hammer installation I did was on 1987 Baldwin SF10. I installed Ronsen Bacon felt hammers and got very good results with no voicing. Would I see similar results on a Kawai using Ronsen hammers?
 
Regi
Joseph Garrett <joega...@earthlink.net>: Aug 11 06:13AM -0700

Regi,
short answer: I don't think so. Of course the major question is: what type of tonal difference are you seeking.
Personally, I'd install Kawai hammers on that piano. The RX series, imo, has a nice robust tonal pallet that is pretty much in your face w/o being obnoxious. The Kawai pianos are highly engineered and well thought out imo. Unless you are trying to make it sound like something else, go with what is known to work. (Kawai) BTW, I consider the Kawai hammer unique among hammers. They are made different and, I suspect, for a good reason.<G>
Best,
Joe
 
 
Captain of the Tool Police
Squares R I
gpianoworks.com
 
 
-----Original Message-----
Fred Schwartz <fredsch...@gmail.com>: Aug 11 11:24AM -0700

Regi,
 
Joe is correct, the RX hammers are really well suited to the piano, but the main problem is that they require a lot of needling when first installed. So they will be bright, but can be voiced to a pretty wide range of tones according to what the customer wants.
 
I have installed Ronsen Wurzen hammers in RX grands with good effect, and also Abel naturals. The range of tone (mellow when soft, bright when loud) is not quite as wide as with well voiced Kawai hammers, but in some circumstances that might be what is needed so it’s fine.
 
The key to any hammer you install in pianos is how you voice them. I feel that hoping to install hammers without doing voicing is not a wise approach – no hammer has the best sound if just installed and regulated. There will be a much wider tonal pallet if you work with them some after installation. For example, some years back a technician installed new Abel concert hammers in a Kawai EX concert piano without doing the full voicing prep and hammer shoulder needling. The piano sounded really poor, and the school that owned it started complaining to Kawai that there was a problem with this piano, it couldn’t be used any more! So I was sent to work on it and spent a good solid 12 or 13 hours pulling it back into shape – and everything was OK. But the piano still isn’t quite up to it’s potential.
 
I would not change the shanks to carbon fiber. Kawai tested this basic design many years back and decided to stay with hornbeam because the sound fit our scales and piano designs better than the carbon shanks.
 
My final thought is, are you and your customer sure you need to change the hammers? I am suspecting that, if you do not like to needle hammers, perhaps you should try that first anyway. Needle them using Kawai’s techniques to get a warmer sound, reshape them, refit them to the strings, then decide if new hammers are really needed. If they aren’t worn too thin the RX pianos have very voiceable hammers. There is a Kawai voicing guide in the Tech Support area of our web site – if you haven’t seen it before, download and read through the voicing guide. It is in the “Acoustic Downloads” area.
 
http://www.kawaius-tsd.com/index.html
 
Don Mannino
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
 
From: Regi Hedahl
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 5:54 AM
To: pianotech
Subject: [pianotech] Kawai RX3 Hammer Recommendation
 
My customer recently purchased a 2003 Kawai RX3. He originally planned on purchasing a Shigeru Kawai SK3 but ended up purchasing the RX3 instead because of the substantial savings. With the savings, he has some money left over to upgrade this piano. Another piano technician highly recommended Abel hammers and WNG shanks & flanges for this piano. I am a fan of Ronsen hammers and have pretty much used that brand exclusively. However, I have never installed hammers on a Kawai so I'm not sure what kind of results I would get. The last hammer installation I did was on 1987 Baldwin SF10. I installed Ronsen Bacon felt hammers and got very good results with no voicing. Would I see similar results on a Kawai using Ronsen hammers?
 
Regi
Jeffrey Velez <jvele...@gmail.com>: Aug 11 09:51AM -0700

Hi, I have a PDS32 Piano Disc player. My parents got it around 1991.
The disc player still plays, but one of the circuit boards has a very
high pitched squeal anytime it is turned on. Is there ANYONE, ANYWHERE
that would have a replacement part for the machine? I have pictures
and video to show the problem. I will attach them upon request.
 
Thank you very much. This piano is very special to our family, and I'd
love to be able to surprise everyone and be able to fix the bad "high
voltage" circuit part.
 
Thank you very much,
Randy Mangus <Pian...@aol.com>: Aug 11 01:38PM -0400

Is the problem in the control box? Or is it some other component underneath the piano?
Randy Mangus
 
Sent from my iPhone
 
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Isaac's Piano Service
Registered Piano Technician since 1975
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