Hello, Chapter Members and others who read The Buckeye Backcheck. Just a few short words to say thanks to Mark and Marilyn Ritchie, who hosted the September 2002 Columbus Chapter Picnic. Their home in the Westerville/New Albany area is set in the woods, with beautifully expansive land behind the house. It was the perfect choice for the Picnic! I hope to see you all at the next Chapter Meeting on Tuesday, October 15th at The Piano Gallery!   
 

The sun never sets on the cool... Mark and Marilyn Ritchie sit on their porch and enjoy the view through their shades.	Doug Brandt and Ben Wiant pose at the Ritchie Picnic	Victor poses with his new German Shepard pup. A good dog with boundless energy!

Meeting Minutes (excerpts)

Old Business: 
Kim reports that she has still not received confirmation that Dale Logan, Mike Varrone and Sam Stahl are now members of the Chapter. This will be explored further. The status of the Chapter web page was brought up, and it was explained by Rick Miller, the guiding force in the creation of the web page, that he has been exceptionally busy as of late, and the web page will be attended to when time allows.

New Business: 
It was agreed that future written and tech exams can be taken at the office area of Mitch Staples at Ohio State University. Ben Wiant will hold the library, which was previously at Mitch’s office. The stringing jig and other testing jigs will remain at the Staples location. It was also requested that a current list of our library holdings be put in a future newsletter. Ron May, who has moved to Florida, may have these holdings on his computer; he will be contacted by Mark Ritchie to verify if this is true.

 Bob Grubb has only to pass Part 1 of the tuning test to become an RPT. We wish him well! We officially have two new members in the Chapter fold: David Stang of the Clintonville area and Bryan Hartzler of Delaware, Ohio. Welcome!

 Mark Ritchie mentioned that he has set up a Chapter photograph at the October 15th Chapter meeting at The Piano Gallery. The cost is a minimal $50, and the photographer, Lance Parker, will put the (digital) picture on a CD for us. This picture will undoubtedly be featured on our web site.

 Chris Altenburg is going to present the Technical at the October Chapter meeting. It is entitled, ‘The Ten Most Important Things I learned at the Disclavier Seminar.”

 It was reported that Christina of Graves Piano & Organ is working to get Charles Walter to come to Columbus in the future and speak. We look forward to mis upcoming opportunity. Bob Bussell, our Regional Vice President, also plans to come to Columbus in the near future.

From Kim Hoessly... 

I just wanted to let you know that the Exec. Board meeting is on for Oct. 15th, 6pm at the Panera in the same shopping center as the Piano Gallery. The agenda will be Technicals for the coming year and a look at the By-Laws.

 Although it is to be a meeting of Chapter Officers, it is an open meeting if other Members want to attend. Also, if there is room in The Buckeye Backcheck, could you put the following in there:

 For Sale: 12 PTG Journal binders, listed at $10 new. Will sell all for $20 or best offer. -Kim Hoessly, 326-3630 khoessly@columbus.rr.com

 Also from Kim is the following email she submitted to numerous Chapter Members recently. My computer, which contained the October issue of The Buckeye Backcheck, had failed during “newsletter crunch time”, and I was unable to get to the printer until days before the October 15th Chapter Meeting. Many thanks go to Rick Miller and his associates for getting my computer operational again!!

Doug is having some computer problems which he hopes to remedy soon, but in the meantime, in case you do not get your newsletter this week, here is a reminder. The October Meeting of the Columbus Chapter will be October 15 at 8 pm at the Piano Gallery in the Festival shopping center on the Southeast comer of 161 and Sawmill Road. Chris Altenburg will share some of his experiences at the Yamaha Disklavier Clinic, which he recently attended. Prior to the meeting, at 6 pm at the Panera bread and sandwich shop across the parking lot from Piano Gallery, there will be an Executive Board Meeting to discuss technicals and by-laws (time permitting). Board meetings are open to members who wish to attend, but are not mandatory. Note: Only Board Members may vote at a board meeting.

 Also, mark your calendars for Weds, November 13fh. The Piano Gallery has offered to host a meeting with LaRoy Edwards as a guest speaker, and we are happy to let them. This is a different night than our usual 3rd Tuesday, so please mark your calendars now to reserve the time. Norwin Mergler said that LaRoy will be in town most of the day if we’d like to schedule something special in the afternoon. Please bring your suggestions to the meeting in October. Thanks for your time, see you all next week, Kim

In Memoriam...  

In memory of Eugene T. Heckesky            
May 18, 2930 - Sept, 22, 2002 
Gene was a long time member of the Columbus Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild, although he had resigned his membership several years ago. A well known tuner and technician in the Columbus area for many years. Gene and his son Tom had a rebuilding shop on South High Street for a number of years, and many Chapter meetings were held there. Our best regards and sincere sympathy to his wife Virginia and family.    
 

From the Trades...

The following is from the September 2002 issue of The Music Trades...  
 
Baldwin Piano to Sponsor A.J. Foyt Racing Team 

In an unconventional marketing move, the new Baldwin Piano Company announced a promotional alliance with the A.J. Foyt Indy racing team. Announcing the agreement, Baldwin CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said, “We at Baldwin Pianos are excited to join A.J. Foyt’s team because the name Foyt is synonymous with winning and being the best in his field. A.J.’s team not only won the Indy car race, they also won me race before itthe Infiniti Pro Series race- with his grandson, A.J. Foyt IV, driving. We believe we’re the best in our field, and we’re very happy to associate our brand with the best of the best in Indy racing.
 

From Other Newsletters...

The first article comes from the Baltimore Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild. 

Tech Tips            
Quick Fix for Weightless Keys 

by David G. Hughes, RPT

 I have found a quick, semi-permanent fix for customers who complain of a too-light keyboard in their grand pianos. Actually, the correction is for the piano, not the owner....... Before proceeding, I must acknowledge that this procedure is not an original notion - I first heard it discussed between Greg Hudak, RPT and Caleb Tsai, RPT several years ago in some of their dealings at Peabody and within their own private clientele-

 Of course, the true correction for touch weight problems is to first perform a thorough friction analysis of the keys and top stack before even considering re-leading the key sticks or other permanent procedures. There can be, however, instances where a “fudged” improvement can be    achieved on a known-good, well-designed and regulated action. The predicament is to somehow make some component of the action train beyond the balance rail fulcrum physically heavier - the most effective being the hammer/hammer shank assembly. The solution is to attach small weights to the diameter of the shank. What works perfectly for the job are ‘binder clips’, which are the blackened steel, folding-handle, paperclip fasteners we’re all familiar with, sold at office supply stores everywhere. I buy the “small” size, which is a clip about 3/4" long, at Office Depot, one gross at a time, for about $8.00. To decide how much change is desired, first take some down-weight measurements at various points across the keyboard to get an idea of what the customer is talking about- Make an arbitrary decision as to how much heavier the touch weight should be (start off with 3 or 4 grams) and install weights on one octave’s worth of keys in the center of the keyboard to achieve. Then have the customer play those keys to critique/confirm your work. If this is all that is needed, proceed with the entire action. If not, move the weight farther down the shank to increase the result and retry.

 In installing the clips, I always start far up on the shank, just beyond the knuckle. This will produce a slight yet noticeable change. Check your work, key by key, with gram gauges and continue. The clips may be installed either in the standard position or upside down. The determining factors are these: with the clips right side up, the portion which holds the foldaway handles may contact the top of the wippens depending on how far down the shank they are. With the clips upside down, this same surface may contact the underside of the pin block on a stiff blow. Different orientations may work in different sections of the scale. It goes without saying that the removable handles are disengaged and discarded from the clips once finally located on the shanks. In fact, I remove the handles immediately upon installation and then slide the clip along the length of the shank by prying the j aws open slightly with a screwdriver to relieve the spring tension. Of course, the handles must not be in place during the action weigh-off. Do, however, stow a pair or two of the handles within the action cavity somewhere out of the way for future adjustment/removal of the clips. I also include a note card indicating the average original touch weight section by section, and the revised touch weight results so future technicians will have some idea of what the heck went on. The result does look goofy - it’s probably wise to let compatriots know there was some method to your madness. The beauty of this procedure is that it is instantly, infinitely adjustable; doesn’t damage the piano in any way; can be performed in minimal   time in the customer’s living room; and can be completely removed if desired at a later date. There have been no perceptible changes in voicing as a result of increased shank mass. I must admit that I have performed this procedure only a handful of times, yet have had no callbacks as a result to date, only delighted customers. One of these installations was performed for a teacher who uses the piano six hours a day, six days a week. So far no binder clips have required removal from any of her students’ dental work. 

          
Tech Tip...

 Next is something from The Nova Soundboard, the official publication of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild. Andrew Margrave is the Editor. 

Technical Tip of the Month - The "Virgil Smith" Syndrome                   
By Andrew Margrave 

The phenomenon that I myself refer to as the Virgil Smith Syndrome has received much print in recent years, in numerous publications, including our own chapter newsletter. This phenomenon is named for Virgil Smith, a long-time RPT in the Chicago Chapter. Virgil discovered this acoustic tendency and made it known to his fellow technicians, both in PTG publications and in convention classes. The Virgil Smith Syndrome is the tendency of plain-wire threestring notes to sound at a lower pitch with two or three strings sounding than they do if two strings are muted out, leaving only one to sound. Virgil’s discovery and dissemination of that inclination have constituted a fantastic and incalculable service to all piano technicians, and alone insures his place in the pantheon of piano personalities.

 The Virgil Smith Syndrome must always be taken into account any time one tunes plain-wire threestring notes. To do otherwise insures that trebles will end up too flat, and that wrapped bichords in the bass will sound too sharp to the temperament octave after the temperament strip comes out. The Virgil Smith Syndrome is very unpredictable. It varies from piano to piano, and also varies in different parts of the unwrapped-trichord register. I have even seen the Virgil Smith Syndrome go the other way, so that the treble note seems actually to rise in pitch after the mutes are removed. The Virgil Smith Syndrome tends to be more pronounced and more variable on the more qualitatively-challenged pianos. The wild nature of the Virgil Smith Syndrome, indeed its vary existence, makes it yet another set of punches that a piano technician must learn to roll with.

 At this time I do not know if the Virgil Smith Syndrome is a factor with pre-modem pianos - It   would be interesting to find out what role, if any, the Virgil Smith Syndrome may play with pianos built in me 1860's, or 1820's, etc.

 At the Chicago convention last June, Virgil Smith won the Golden Hammer Award, PTG’s highest honor. Congratulations, Virgil!! 
 
 

In Conclusion... 

Seen on a t-shirt:  (worn by Kim Hoessly and written by Dale Fandrich)