<![CDATA[Foster Piano Technology

<![CDATA[Foster Piano Technology - Project Blog]]>Sun, 06 May 2012 20:15:02 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Installing a set of new hammers]]>Fri, 04 May 2012 22:05:21 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2012/05/installing-a-set-of-new-hammers.html

Adding a new set of hammers to an older piano will give a nicer sound and a longer life. If your piano sounds "harsh" or "too bright", that could mean the hammers need to be voiced or reshaped. If the hammers still feel hard, it might be time to replace them.
New hammers will give the piano a warm, more pleasant sound. Along with giving you a new motivation to play alittle more.

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand - it's done]]>Mon, 30 May 2011 21:50:53 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand-its-done.htmlThis rebuild is done. The piano is now being shipped away to have the cabinet refinished, and detailed. I'll make an in-home visit next week to tune it and make sure everything is working fine and the customer is happy.
It turned out pretty good. I'm very happy with it. Because of the short turn-around, the strings will continue to stretch over the next few weeks, so it's important to keep it tuned. Unfortunately, this piano is going very far away, too far for me to make it a regular tuning. But I know another technician that will take good care of it.
As for me.... no time to rest. The next project is in the shop, and ready for a complete restoration. And it's going to be fun one, too. I haven't decided if I'm going to post pictures. But if I do... it will be right here.

So, here it is playing alittle Doobie Brothers:

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand - day 6]]>Wed, 25 May 2011 21:25:10 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand-day-6.htmlSo, I'm down to the end of this project. It was a fast turn-around. The bass strings finally came in. I only had 2 days to get them installed, up-to pitch, and settled. Along with getting the rest of the action finished, hammers voiced, and all the parts back on the piano.
I finished getting the keys cleaned up and working properly once I got all the strings installed. That's where all the meticulous work is. Getting the piano action (mechanics) regulated and playing perfectly took most of the last 2 days.

The finished piano action before it gets installed in the piano.

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand - day 5]]>Thu, 19 May 2011 19:52:17 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand-day-5.htmlI finished installing the hammers. Once I get them completely installed in the piano, I have to voice them. That means, I have to make every one sound the same in terms of "shape" of sound: Mellow, bright, jazzy, etc. But I can't do that yet... my custom bass strings are still not here!
But while I wait, I went ahead and installed the digital player system. This one is a PianoDisc Silent Drive HD PianoCD. It plays the piano, and is accompanied by background music through the speakers. It's pretty cool. This particular piano is an heirloom of a client that lost his grandmother, and he wants to hear the piano played again... imagining it is her playing. It's a nice subtle way to remember her.

Player system. Before and After:

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand - day 4]]>Tue, 17 May 2011 21:18:37 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand-day-4.htmlGetting the new strings on is time consuming. I takes awhile to measure out the proper length of music wire, install it on a tuning pin, and drive it into the pinblock.... and then do that 245 more times.
What's important is to make sure the strings have a proper coil around the pins. This helps stabilize the tuning. A sign of a good technician is how well the string coils are, and how uniform they look. (Guitarist: Make good tight coils without overlapping when installing new guitar strings, and the tuning will be more stable).

At this point, I'm only able to do the plain strings. The copper-wound bass strings had to be custom ordered, and they haven't arrived yet! Hopefully soon. Time is ticking!

And I also started installing the new hammers. Setting the samples (the ends of each section) allows me to line up the new strike point (top of the hammer) with the old strike point.
I didn't want to risk breaking any hammer shanks because they seemed very brittle. So I installed new ones with the hammers. It's very typical to install new parts when the old ones might be good enough. The amount of labor involved with dealing with old parts usually can exceed the cost of just buying new ones. Just installing new parts can sometimes be cheaper overall.

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand - day 3]]>Mon, 16 May 2011 18:06:09 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand-day-3.htmlToday's project was getting the cleaned plate back in the piano, and getting the new plate felt down. It's now ready for the strings. Thanks again to the hoist... it really helps out with lifting and gently putting the plate in place on to the placement bolts.
It's really important make sure the bolts are put in tight so the plate isn't allowed to move or twist under the tension of the strings. Allot of rattling noises come from lose plate bolts!

You'll notice the original plate felt was green, and I used red. That was for two reasons: I prefer the red. It makes it look snazzier. And also, the supplier didn't have green felt! So... red it is!

This is a just picture of the inside of the action cavity. After I get the strings reinstalled, the dampers get installed and adjusted. But that comes later.... this is a just randome picture of the inside. And I thought it was a good picture that shows the nature wood grain of the piano

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand, day 2]]>Sat, 14 May 2011 19:58:34 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand-day-2.htmlWell, finished getting the strings off, and the old tuning pins out. It really needs some cleaning, too. There was some obvious spillage on the soundboard under the plate. It looks like soda or juice.
The process of removing the stings is kinda dangerous because they become very sharp. They got me a couple times. I had to bandage of some "battle wounds" before I could get back to work!

I pulled the plate so I can get better access to cleaning the soundboard and bridge. It also helps cleaning the plate, too, while it's on the bench. I have a 2-ton hoist to help lift. Those plates are pretty heavy!

]]><![CDATA[Fischer Grand]]>Fri, 13 May 2011 20:11:08 -0500http://www.fosterpiano.com/1/post/2011/05/fischer-grand.htmlThis is a rebuild project I am starting, with an extremely short deadline. So it's going to be 24/7 for the next few weeks for this one.
This piano is interesting, because it's a family heirloom on a budget, which most people can relate to. I decided to blog about this one because not only is a rebuild, but it's a digital player installation as well. Which means... I get to do double duty with only 2 1/2 weeks. That's not too terrible, but it definately makes my days filled with time in the shop just in time for the next piano rebuild to come in. But, thankfully, the next one doesn't have a very strict deadline, which means I can catch up on some road work.

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