Central Oklahoma Chapter October 2019 Newsletterwww.cokptg.org

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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Next Chapter Meeting

When: Thursday, October 17th

Location: David Bonham’s shop

Address: 10717 Eastlake Cir, Oklahoma City, OK 73162

Time: 8:30 AM

Technical: Regulation, Third in 4 part series

Co-Presidents

President: David Bonham, RPT President/Treasurer: Gary Bruce, RPT

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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President's Message

Last Monday, Jonathan and I left OKC with three pianos and a load of other items (mostly in boxes) to deliver to Marietta, Georgia, Tallahassee, and Tampa. In our typical style, we took turns driving and sleeping. We covered the round trip of 2,800 miles in 57 hours. Our playtime consisted of about 90 minutes on a beach in Gulfport, Mississippi. As I reflect on the trip I am reminded of a theme that I often share about in these messages. The first delivery was a Steinway upright from the era when the plate extended below the bottom board of the piano. These pianos are very hard to move because they aren’t even close to being flat on the bottom and for that reason they won’t balance on a flat dolly. At the delivery location in Marietta, the driveway was quite sloped and the curved sidewalk angled off the drive with its own slope leading to four tall steps. We got the piano safely in the house, but it was a challenge. I got to share with the client that I had known her (deceased) father from whom she was inheriting this instrument and he had performed several of my dad’s compositions back in the 1980’s when they were both members at St Luke’s Methodist Church. I loved his rich baritone voice. She was surprised and touched to learn that.

The second piano was an antique upright that wouldn’t have sold here for more than perhaps $250. Suffice it to say they spent over four times that to have us deliver it to a house in the woods outside Tallahassee. The customer said as we rolled it into his living room, “It still smells the same, just like my dad’s house. It brings back so many memories...”

The third piano was a nice Baldwin R grand (5’8”) made in 2003. The trip to Tampa was reminiscent of my drive with my daughter and son-in-law twelve years ago after my son, Wes, had been murdered there and we went to retrieve his remains and all his possessions. Ironically the town we delivered to was Wesley Chapel. The recipient was the mother of the piano’s owner who had grown up in Florida but had been living with her husband in Norman until a recent divorce. I had listened to her story a month earlier and felt sad for her as she showed me all the boxes of stuff she wanted to have taken with the piano. Artwork, dishes, collectibles, her vacuum, the tea cart… all she could salvage from a devastating relationship collapse.

So what’s the recurring theme? Stories. Memories. Attachments. We usually talk about pianos as things, but I am constantly reminded that we service people, not instruments. And our stories connect with theirs if we are willing to share on that level. That has certainly been a huge part of what keeps me going and fulfilled in this vocation we share.

I hope to see you at our next meeting as we continue the series on grand regulation!

David Bonham, RPT

Co-President

Thinking ahead to December we are looking for someone to host the Chapter’s annual Christmas dinner party.

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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COKPTGChapterMeetingMinutes9/19/19

David Bonham’s Shop

Called to order: 9:02 a.m.

Attendees: Members David Bonham, Jamie Marks, Nathan Rau, Keith Morgan, Norman Cantrell, Joe Woolston, Doug Snook, Gary Bruce, Bruce Johnson and guest Corie Melaugh.

Minutes from the August meeting were read by David Bonham and approved.

Gary Bruce reported bank balance of $1,886.77 as of August 30, 2019. Expenditures since last report were the renewal from GoDaddy for website and Council Delegate Expense.

Guest, Corie Melaugh was introduced. She’s a staff accompanist at OCU and having visited the Bennett Street School is making plans to attend starting in the fall of 2020.

Discussed latest information available about Steinway decal letter and potential meeting between Steinway Execs and PTG Officers.

The next SCRC conference will be in San Antonio on February 17-21, 2021.

Discussed summer travel and tuning experiences.

Norman will be attending the Steinway Regulation training in November.

Bruce Johnson completed the written exam and passed.

Meeting adjourned at 9:52 a.m.

Technical presentation was Steps 7-15 of the GAR process.

Recorded by Gary Bruce, RPT

Congratulations go out to

Bruce Johnson

for passing the written exam!

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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Last month Bruce Johnson sent me an example of an evaluation report he did on a Kawai Grand. I found it very interesting hope you do to. Thank you Bruce for sharing your inspection report with us.

Inspection Report for Kawai Grand Piano

Case: The case is in very good condition commensurate with age. Scuffmarks on leg (photo 12) are representative of the general wear and tear. The top of piano has moderate small abrasions as would be expected with moving books and literature about. This has caused a dulling of the finish and a lot of minute scratches.

Photo 12 Photo 1

Pinblock: Photo 1 is a shot of the underneath side of pinblock with action removed. There is no evidence of separation or cracks as viewed from underneath. A number of pins were detuned and set back to pitch. These pins had adequate torque and were smooth in movement. Although I did not tune the whole piano, the owner who tunes, states that there were no loose pins detected.

Dampers: There is obvious wear on dampers, which is visible starting at the bichords. All notes damped properly, however, damper regulation is uneven. Perfect damper regulation would probably be a challenge without replacement of at least some dampers starting at about C3 down. I tried to show that with Photo 3, but my photography is poor.

Photo3 Photo5

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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Board: The soundboard looks healthy. However, there are two noticeable ridges with slight elevations, but no real cupping. These ridges can be felt. The owner has installed a Dampp-Chaser, which was heating when I was there today. These may be of no concern, but sometimes they become cracks without proper humidity control (my opinion only). One may be visible in Photo 5 just in front of the treble bridge.

Action: The action is clean and responsive. The touch is definitely not light, but more medium. Regulation seemed good with consistent letoff and back check.

Bridges: There were no visible cracks or evidence of loose bridge pins.

Downbearing: Downbearing was quite adequate, but was much less in the high treble. At the treble break (F6) the downbearing was diminished and almost undetectable, but not negative. Clarity and sustain was fine, however, in this area.

Underbelly: Photos 9, 10, and 11 are underneath shots. Again, forgive my photography. I do not see in rib cracks or separations nor do I detect any rib separations from the rim.

Photo 9 Photo 10

Photo 11 Photo 15

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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Hammers: The hammers, I believe, have had some filing done. The string grooves are almost non-existent for an instrument of this vintage. Along with the wear on the bass dampers, there should be more visible wear if the hammers were in original condition. Notable in Photo 15 is the remains of a spill of an apparently dark beverage. This has splattered down on the damper lifter felts. It does not seem to have any negative impact presently but the felts may be affected in the future. I did not see any splatters on the action parts or wippens beneath. I did not see any splatters on the back action.

Strings: The strings are clean and do not show rust or corrosion. One can see some spots on the copper windings from the above-described spill (photo 7). This may cause rust at some point of the steel string beneath. There is one bass string with a slight ring, I believe D#1 that a very discerning owner might want to replace. Otherwise, the bass was good.

Photo7

Keytops: Keytops appear perfect. Key height is very good and key spacing is very good.

Tonal Quality: The description of tonal characteristics is extremely subjective. The instrument, for its size was voiced loud enough for a large room and was generally quite bright. Voicing was uneven in the midrange but could be remedied with some voicing procedures. It is actually quite pleasant and powerful to play, as is. Sustain is very good in all octaves.

Overall Impression: This instrument is good to very good in my opinion for its age. Fine tuning and voicing would make it better but it is nice to play.

Additional photos:

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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Photo2 Photo4

Photo6 Photo8

Photo13 Photo14

DISCLAIMER: This report represents the thoughts and impressions of this piano technician based on a reasonable amount of time in evaluating. Many are subjective. The intent is to describe the instrument objectively with attention given to any possible deficiencies or problems that might arise after the purchase. These observations cannot, with absolute certainty, prevent a less than perfect outcome. I do

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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not make any recommendations as to whether to purchase or not purchase this instrument. Final decisions should be made after any interested parties actually evaluate the instrument for themselves.

Thank you,

Bruce G. Johnson

Associate Member Piano Technicians Guild

Editor’s Notes: Looking for contributions to publish in the newsletter of things you found interesting, intriguing, puzzling encounters or eureka moments in the world of piano technology. Deadline for newsletter submissions is 12 days before the third Thursday of the month. The newsletter will usually be distributed 10 days before the upcoming Chapter Meeting. The Newsletter Editor reserves the right to edit article submissions for clarity and length. Joseph Woolston, Associate Newsletter Editor COK-PTG

COK-PTG Upcoming Events

• November 21st Fourth of 4 part regulation series • December Christmas Dinner Party

PTG Upcoming Events

October 31 - November 2, 2019 GRAND ACTION REGULATION IN 37 STEPS PTG Home Office - Kansas City Contact: Kathy Maxwell, kathy@ptg.org, 913-276-5202 April 23 - 27, 2020 PTG MARC (Mid-Atlantic Regional Convention) Crowne Plaza Wilmington North, Claymont, DE Contact: Steve Taylor, staylor@ptgmarc.org, 215-534-0533 www.ptgmarc.org

THE SOONER TUNER – PTG Central Oklahoma Chapter 731

DISCLAIMER: “All expressions of opinion and all statements of supposed facts are published on the authority of the editor as listed and are not to be regarded as expressing the views of this chapter or the Piano Technicians Guild unless statements or opinions have been adopted by the Chapter or the Guild.”

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July 29 - August 1, 2020 63rd ANNUAL PTG CONVENTION & TECHNICAL INSTITUTE Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld, Orlando, FL Contact: Sandy Roady, sandy@ptg.org, 913-432-9975 September 24 - 26, 2020 September 24 - 26, 2020 MIDWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE (MRCO) Marriott Kansas City Overland Park, Kansas City Contact: Malinda Powell, pianolady454@gmail.com, 651-454-9277