PRE»TO
ESSENTIAL SKILL OF THE TUNER
IN PRESERVATION OF THE PIANO
An Indispensable Part of the Instrument's Upkeep and Care Too Little
Understood by the Public or Even by the
Average Dealer
November 27, 1920.
ARTISTS AT AMPICO
STUDIO OPENING
Big Assemblage of People Prominent in Art
Grace Events at the Knabe Warerooms,
New York.
The opening of the new Ampico Studios at the
Knabe Warerooms, 439 Fifth avenue, New York,
was an affair to which a large number of guests
were invited. The handsome rooms were brilliantly
lighted and decorated with flowers, and during both
By Henry Francis Peltier
the afternoon and evening were crowded with people
distinguished in a social and professional way. Es-
wood and sometimes will last in hardwood work also, pecially notable was the number of great artists pres-
(Continued from last week.)
but not for long.
ent in New York who attended the reception, many
Remember, oil and greases are dirt catchers.
Should you be unable to get anyone to do this of whom contributed to the musical program. One
Never put oil on piano pedal wood bearings, or
you will regret it, as this is a sure way to 'create work for you, do as follows, for you will need them of the most interesting items was the superb singing
of Mme. Namara and Sue Harvard, who sang to
squeaks. Remove the blocks and put dry graphite to drill into iron or brass. Sometimes I have had
to use them on steel.
the Ampico accompaniment. Noted in the large
in the pin holes; you will never be troubled again
First have handy a small utensil filled with oil; if gathering were the following:
there with squeaks.
Arthur Bodanzky, Rosa Ponsclle, Alfred Mirovitch,
Also use graphite under the piano pedal, between you can not get it handy, use water.
Use a gas flame if you have a Bunsen burner han- Duci de Kerekjarto, Mme. Namara, Mana-Zucca,
the flat spring- and the wood that is in groove of
pedal. Here you may use a little graphite that has dy (remove mantle burner from gas light and you Hugo Riesenfeld, Mishel Piastro, Charles Hackett,
have one), or an alcohol lamp flame; or use your Titta Ruffo, Alma Gluck, Victor Herbert, Max Ro-
been mixed.with mutton tallow, half and half.
sen, Julia Glass, Richard Hageman, Katharine Lane,
A loose toe rail will squeak when pressure is ap- gas stove, if you have one.
Hold drill with a pair of pliers and insert into
Leonard Liebling, H. O. Osgood, Otto Weil, Mil-
plied to piano pedal.
Bottom panels will squeak at toe-rail, if spring flame. The hottest point of flame is about two-thirds ton Diamond, Christine Langenhan, Germaine
Alexander Lambert, Joan
is not tight enough; put a small piece of felt at each up from burner—until drill is red hot. If you are Schnitzer, Sue Harvard,
using any of the above methods to heat, let the drill Manen, M. Eschaniz 1 , Wynee Pyle, Henry W. Sav-
end, or graphite bottom of panel.
Loose trusses will rattle; loose ornaments on top get ag hot as the flame will make it, then dip the age, Guy Bolton, B. F. Roeder, Ernest Hutcheson,
drill point into the oil, or water, about three-six- M. Piastro Borisoff, Philip Gordon, Penelope Davies,
panel will sing and rattle.
teenths of an inch, one second, withdraw and plunge Antonia Sawyer, R. E. Johnston, Paul Longone,
Piano keys that are used most, from observations immediately back again. Then cool it off by holding Fitzhugh Haensel, Hugo Boucek, Pierre V. R. Key,
taken from used pianos and organs, covering some in water or oil.
Miss Janet Velie.
years of painstaking measurements and observations,
The reason I mention only three-sixteenths of an
may be scheduled as follows: The numbers, count- inch for tempering the point of the drill, is, should
LOAN ON WURLITZER BUILDING.
ing from the lowest, are named in the order as ob- you break the drill, only the point would break off;
Woodbury
Langdon Company has obtained a loan
served:
you will save the cost of a new one and also a lot of
of $585,000 on the new Rudolph Wurlitzer Building-
42_D; 43—D sharp; 40—C; 41—C sharp; 44—E; inconvenience should you be away from town.
at 116 to 120 West Forty-second street, through to
37—A; 35—G; 34—F sharp; 39—B; 33—F; 47—G;
Tempering the Drill.
119 to 127 West Forty-first street, Manhattan. A
49—A; 32—E; 30—D; 28—C; 51—B; 52—C; 53—D.
Should you temper the drill too hard, do as fol- lease has been recorded by the Langdon Company
It will be noticed that the 42nd note (center key
to the Wurlitzer Company, one of the largest manu-
of D) is the first on the list, showing that it is the lows:
Heat again till you see it change colors; then dip facturers of musical instruments in the country, for
most frequently used key on the piano or organ.
twenty-one years, from May 1, 1919, with option
How many tuners stop to observe such items as quickly into oil, or water, till cooled off.
. It may require several trials before you succeed in of three twenty-one year renewals; also an option to
this?
When you send a lot of keys to be recovered, look getting the temper right. To test the drill, try to purchase the property after May 1, 1924, and an op-
at them closely and observe how they are worn; file the tip. It should not be easy to file, and also tion to borrow from the Langdon Company, 65 per
not too hard, either. If you are afraid of spoiling cent of the cost of the building, but not over $500,-
some are worn so much that it is necessary to put
on some shims before putting on the ivory, or, in your drill, practice on a small piece of steel. It will 000.
other words, the keys themselves had to be built up. do you good to learn something" new once in a while.
A new and well appointed music roll department
Not only were they worn in front, but at the joints If you do not succeed in getting the right temper at
first, don't lose your own!
has been established by Manager John C. Conliff, of
through for a length of an inch or more.
the Stieff house in Washington, D. C.
How to Make Tuning Pin Cleaner.
Where pianos are used from four to sixteen hours
Secure a piece of broom handle, about two and
a day, the keys, or ivory, do not last very long.
Why not make them out of pressed steel and then one half feet long. At one end whittle to a point 1 do not dip the brush into the oil, but put a few
enamel them white or cream? An idea for some one. in such a way that the point comes to one side of
drops of oil on it and then brush the pins, etc. By
Of course the key buttons are often worn, too, the stick. After you have done this, cut off crosswise this method, you will not get too much oil on the
felt being worn and the pins rubbing on the wood; of point, or cut off the point about one quarter of
pins or other parts.
likewise the felt in front of the key. Also the cap- an inch; then bore a hole in the end where you made
Never "dip" the brush into the oil, or you will in-
stan's screws are often worn; I have found cases the point, so that it will hold to the tuning pin when variably get too much on the article you want to
you
are
using
it.
where it had been worn about an eighth of an inch.
protect. It is only necessary to get a thin film of
If you do not have a drill handy, use the point of
But tone was good and at a small expense this in-
oil to protect the parts.
your knife to make the hole with, it is not necessary
strument was put in good condition.
On the strings I use a cloth saturated with oil,
to be very particular about this point of the work.
To Repair Broken Fly Jack.
just enough so that the oil will come off and get to
The reason that I said to cut the end of the stick
the strings. Too much oil must not be put on--the
Being out in the country, distant from the city, so that the point will come to one side, is so that
where nothing can be had and where you MUST put the cloth will go behind the tuning pin more easily strings, nor too heavy an oil. Use a thin sperm oil,
or an oil that is well known in the market.
on your thinking cap in a hurry, you may come when you-are working. There is a pin cleaner on
If you use a heavy oil on the strings you will kill
across a case where there are broken fly jacks, at the market, made of metal. But more of that later.
part of the tone. In Other words, you will impair,
contact point of jack, or let-off button. Not having
To prepare your cloth do as follows:
or prevent the free transfer of, vibrations from one
any "jacks" what would you do? Even should you
Use heavy duck canvas; cut same with the grain, node to another.
have some with you, the chances are they would not
fit. I had such a case, and I had to get them fixed about 2 inches wide; put some oil on one side, then
Of course you must not put any oil on the base
in some way, as it was imperative that all should be rub some fine pumice into the cloth, mixing it thor- strings, or on any wound string of any kind.
in working condition. It would do no good in this oughly with the oil. Or, if you prefer, mix the oil
Experience With an Experimentor.
case to change jacks from one section to another. I and fine pumice before you put anything on the
A party had a grand piano with iron wire in the
cloth.
could not lower the regulating screw or let-off but-
Use enough oil to make a thick paste. I prefer base section—that is, wound with iron wire. As
ton, for it would not touch the jack; also the parts
he always had the top open he did not like the ap-
that were broken off were lost, so I decided to pro- to put the oil on the cloth first and then rub the pearance of these wires after a few years' time, for,
pumice into the cloth afterwards; this prepares the
ceed as follows:
of course, they got black, and in some spots they
cloth better and lasts longer.
I turned up the regulating screw—out of way. I
Another method is to mix the pumice with mutton were rusty. So one day he thought that it would
drilled a small hole into lower part of jack, so that tallow, but I do not like this method, for the tallow be a very good idea to fix these strings so that they
I could put a small round-headed screw into it; the dries and does not work as good.
would not be so unsightly. And this is what was
hole was bored in an upward direction, screw head
done.
Don't Use too Much Oil.
coming to about place of broken part. I then put
He called at a paint store and secured a nice bot-
Care must be taken not to saturate the cloth with tle of "gold" bronz, and also a nice camel hair brush.
the jack spring into place, first stretching it some.
Then I regulated the let-off button, and all was well. oil, for if you do you will get too much oil on the
On returning home, he got busy with the outfit,
pins, and if they are very rusty, the oil will travel and soon had a very fine appearing set of base
This work was on a playerpiano. Of course I had
to the rear of the pin and into the pin block and, strings.
to remove the player action.
He was told to wait till same was good and "dry"
All harmonizers—or tuners, as you prefer to be of course, cause trouble later on.
I have removed rust from tuning pins a great —about two hours and the instrument would be
called—should carry a set of drills. Purchase a
push drill (so called) with a set of six to ten drills; many times in the aforesaid way, and have never had ready to use.
Naturally, he was quite anxiwus to try the instru-
the one I have has ten drills, numbered from one to any trouble with oil getting into the block or wrest-
ment and, when the time was up he sat down to
ten, all contained in the handle, or stock. Above plank.
the numbers are holes the same size as the drills,
I also have, and do now when I get into the coun- test his wonderful work. What he said would not
which make it very convenient to select the proper try and find that the piano or player is in a damp look well here! And the lesson is never to put any-
size of drill needed. The entire outfit does not take place, or is in a room where the heat is only on oc- thing on the bass strings, nor ever try to "clean"
any more room than your tuning hammer.
casional—which would cause the metal parts to them with any preparation.
Speaking of bass strings, in my next article I
After you have purchased your drill outfit, have "sweat"—oil all the metal parts, such as the tuning
some one temper drill-points harder, as they are not pins, pressure bar, screws, bolts, and strings. I use will tell you how to get back life into old ones.
(To be continued.)
intended for hard work. They are O.K. for soft a small camel-hair brush that I always have with me.
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