LOS ANGELES CHAPTER
October Meeting: (3rd Monday)
Date: Monday, October 16, 2017
Time:
Refreshments - 6:00 pm
Meeting - 7:00 pm
Location: Pierre's Fine Pianos
11039 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90064
310-473-0600
The Los Angeles Chapter held its monthly meeting in Sherman Oaks at Keyboard Concepts. We thank Dennis Hagerty for his generous support of PTG, Adam Chester, Manager of KC Sherman Oaks, for inviting us in, and Leonard Ezraelian for sticking around and keeping the lights on for us.
Isaac Sadisgursky started off with a mini-technical and jars full of plate bushings for everyone. He told the new techs in the audience that there will come a time when a tricky plate bushing might sneak out of its place when trying to replace a broken string. Someone else (maybe Alan Eder) said using the string lifter to hold it down while backing out the pin might help. Our Prez chimed in by offering a tip she just learned from the Shigeru Kawai MPA at their seminar. What they did was to quickly jerk the pin as you're backing out of the pinblock which helps to prevent the bushing from coming out. Quick! Run to your nearest piano with plate bushings and try it out!
This meeting was one of the best I have ever attended. I enjoy hearing people tell stories about themselves. Chapter members who attended all had a chance to tell how they got into the piano tuning business. The stories gave us all a chance to find out who we are associating with and the vast amount of skill and genius that resides in each being who shares our interest in pianos. I personally had no idea of the fascinating past of some of the members. We have a diverse group, and from the newest member to the most experienced among us there is a powerful interest in learning about the magical instrument, the piano. The only aspect of the meeting that was not fantastic was that more of us weren't there. We should do that again and hear from the people who didn't attend as well as from some of those who were mentioned in the stories as accomplices. If you weren't there you may have missed hearing some interesting anecdotes about yourself.
This month, Don Mannino will present "The Grand Damper System: Repair and Regulation." Don will unravel the mysteries of servicing damper systems in Kawai grand pianos and other similarly designed pianos. He will demonstrate damper tray block replacement and service, regulating the damper lift from the key and from the pedal, regulating the sostenuto, plus much more! Don will even include a demonstration of trimming trichord wedges to reduce noise when lifting. If you've had difficulties working on grand dampers, don't miss this class!