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35
The Music Trade Review
APRIL 10, 1926
The Technical Department—(Continued from page 34)
"Meanwhile I am sure that all tuners will have
to be extremely grateful to Mr. Hale for his
wonderful exposition of his method. I, for one,
sincerly take off my hat to him. Murphy, Tuner,
Lowell, Mass."
Comment
Just a word of comment may be needed here.
The emphasis should be placed, I think, on
Mr. Murphy's generous concession that it is
not so much a matter of method as of con-
venience. He can tune well on any system, of
course, just as any good tuner can. Mr. Hale
made the same point in my hearing last August
at the tuners' convention in Detroit, when he
gave his remarkable public demonstration. He
said, in fact, to the best of my recollection, that
the only important thing is the principle of
equal temperament, that is, of the division of
the octave into twelve equal parts, and that if
one could tune even by semitones, so as to
obtain this division accurately, that would be
perfectly all right.
At the time this statement was made at least
one critic attempted to prove that the method
which he personally used (fourths and fifths in
that case) was in itself superior by principle;
thereby, of course, showing ignorance of the
underlying facts. No one of the methods has
any value save a pragmatic value. If it works
it is good, and if it does not work—that is, if it
does not enable one to make a true equal tem-
perament—then it is not good.
The question whether beginners might be
more readily taught by the Hale method is not
so easily answered. For myself I am much in
the attitude of a questioner. Information on
this point would be very welcome.
And now let us have some more criticism.
Hammer Installing and the Tomkinson Family
of Piano Makers
"1. Will you kindly inform me how to put
a set of hammer heads into new shanks using
new butts in the action? I have always before
used the old shanks.
"2. I noticed recently in one of your articles
reference to the old piano makers dying off and
not leaving their secrets to their successors.
You did not mention at this time one of the
oldest makers and that was Tomkinson of Lon-
don, whose grandson I happen to be. Tom-
kinson, of Red Lion Square, London, made
harpsichords, clavichords and spinets. His son,
my grandfather, made square, cabinet, grand,
and upright pianofortes. Under him I learned
my trade, serving also an apprenticeship with
Collard & Collard, of London. I am the last
of the family in the piano trade, although pianos
are still being made with my name on them.
"3. I want one of your books on tuning for
one of my friends who wishes to learn the art.
Very truly yours, Henry Tomkinson, Clinton,
S. C."
Comment
Greeting to the last survivor of an old and
honorable house with a name worthy of remem-
brance in the history of the art.
The book referred to is, of course, "Modern
Piano Tuning," which may be had by sending
$2 to Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., Book Depart-
ment, 383 Madison avenue, New York.
Now about this hammer matter: The first
thing is to square the hammer shanks to the
heads as they are glued in. Take the extreme
hammer in each section, file a shank for it, set
the shank in without glue and try setting it in
place in the new butt. Cut and file each shank
to the right height and then glue each into its
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head, immediately replacing it without glue in
the butt and bending the head, still loose in the
fresh glue, till the right travel is assured. When
satisfied with this, then you must see that the
other heads are glued accordingly. To this end,
make a frame consisting of a long board, wide
enough to accommodate the length of the shank
as glued into the head and long enough to take
at least one section of hammers. Have a flange
along one edge of this board so high that when
the shank is glued in place its remote end will
rest square between the flange and the head of
the hammer. At either end of this board put an
upright piece so fixed that a wooden rail can
be placed on top of the two with some sort
of fastening to fix the rail in whatever position
may be required: The amount of leeway will
not exceed an inch at most and the wooden
upright pieces may be of dimensions accord-
ingly at their top surfaces. The height of these
uprights is to be such that when a hammer is
placed upright on the board it will project about
one-quarter inch above the level of the mov-
able rail. The object of the rail is to enable
us to glue the hammer heads in the shanks ac-
cording to the position already determined for
the extreme hammers of each section.
Take the extreme hammers of the first sec-
tion and set the movable rail so that when each
hammer head stands vertical, with its shank
resting at its remote end on the flange, the rail
will just touch the felt of the hammer head.
Then take the next hammer, roll its shank be-
tween two wood files till it fits nicely in the
heads without being too loose or too tight, dip
the shank into the hot glue, press it home into
the hammer head and at once place it against
the setting frame, adjusting the position of the
shank in the head till the hammer rests as
aforesaid square and firm. Do this with every
hammer in the section. Do the same for the
other sections.
When gluing the hammers into the action
make sure that at least the two extreme ham-
mers in each section are exactly right. Glue
these two in, but for convenience sake first cut
off each of the other shanks the same length
roughly as that of the two already set. Have
them too long, however, rather than too short.
Then test each one out in turn in its place in
its own butt, seeing that the shank is filed to
just the right thickness to fit in the butt nicely,
and cut or file (or both) to just the right height
to make a nice straight hammer line. Test the
height by a straight end and see that before
you glue one in the whole line in the section
shows straight.
Filing the Butt
If, after this is done, you find that the ham-
mers (not yet glued), in traveling to the strings
require to be twisted to one side or the other,
in order to hit the strings squarely, file away
the butt end of each shank on one side or the
other, so that when it is glued into place it will
automatically slant one way or the other so as
to obtain a straight travel.
Only when all this is done can you glue the
shanks into the butts. If you have by mistake
made any shank too short, glue a bit of card-
board on the end to make up the deficiency.
Above all things, be careful to have everything
exactly right before you start gluing in the
shanks to the butts. You can make changes, of
course, even after gluing, if the glue has not
set, but this should be done, if at all, without
any delay; and even so should be avoided if
possible.
The hammers can be worked on after a couple
of hours of drying.
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, 5149 Agatite avenue, Chicago.
Torpey Store Damaged
The Torpey Music Store, Fourth street and
Brodhcad avenue, Bethlehem, Pa., was damaged
considerably in a recent fire which badly gutted
the building it occupies.
TUNERS
AND
REPAIRERS
Our new catalogue of piano and
Player Hardware, Felts and
Tools is now ready. If you
haven't received your copy
please let us know.
Hammacher, Schlemmer & Co.
New York, Since 1848
4th Ave. and 13th St.