Nordiska piano action

[John C]

Have been lurking here for a little while and enjoy the posts I've read so
far. I was hoping for some info & assistance. Back in June I bought a new
Nordiska Classica upright. Have been playing for about 30 yrs and this is
the first time I've ever been able to purchase a brand new piano. Beautiful
instrument & great tone.

Only thing is that I've been having a hell of a time with the action on this
piano. I knew it would take a while for the tuning to stabilize, but had no
idea I'd be removing & replacing pins on the wippens so often. It's driving
me crazy...so many stuck notes it's unbelievable. Every time I turn around,
the action is coming back out & being reworked.

Is this normal for a new piano? A definite contributing factor is my playing
style...lots of Joplin, Beethoven, and Chopin. Have to admit that I do play
a bit too hard, but that's the only way I've ever played.

It does have a factory warranty, but there have been so many sticking notes
that I've taken to replacing pins myself. The other alternative would be to
have a technician come to the house at least once or twice a week...it's
that bad. Now some of the wippens are really getting too loose from being
worked with more than I feel comfortable...and notes are still sticking (or
keys are sluggish).

Another question is this: Are wippens & other action parts fairly
standardized among manufacturers? I've seen some sites on the Internet
selling spare parts and am wondering about compatibility issues. (Have not
been able to find any spare parts specifically for Nordiska yet.)

Or is it possible that I happened to have bought a lemon? If I had realized
that an extended break-in period would be required for a new piano, or that
I would have to greatly tone down my playing style, I think I would have
bought something used instead...but I do love this instrument (and besides,
it's a little late now). I am concerned that with some of the repairs I have
made myself, the warranty might be voided. I don't remember seeing anything
in writing about this, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was the case (but I
hope not).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

John C.

[gm]

If it was me John, I would be calling the dealer I purchased it from and
make them do the repair, that way they are aware of how many times service
is needed, and if push comes to shove they may go to bat for you in
replacing the piano if it does have a problem.

Just my 0.02 cents.

Gary

Post by John C
Have been lurking here for a little while and enjoy the posts I've read so
far. I was hoping for some info & assistance. Back in June I bought a new
Nordiska Classica upright. Have been playing for about 30 yrs and this is
the first time I've ever been able to purchase a brand new piano. Beautiful
instrument & great tone.
Only thing is that I've been having a hell of a time with the action on this
piano. I knew it would take a while for the tuning to stabilize, but had no
idea I'd be removing & replacing pins on the wippens so often. It's driving
me crazy...so many stuck notes it's unbelievable. Every time I turn around,
the action is coming back out & being reworked.
Is this normal for a new piano? A definite contributing factor is my playing
style...lots of Joplin, Beethoven, and Chopin. Have to admit that I do play
a bit too hard, but that's the only way I've ever played.
It does have a factory warranty, but there have been so many sticking notes
that I've taken to replacing pins myself. The other alternative would be to
have a technician come to the house at least once or twice a week...it's
that bad. Now some of the wippens are really getting too loose from being
worked with more than I feel comfortable...and notes are still sticking (or
keys are sluggish).
Another question is this: Are wippens & other action parts fairly
standardized among manufacturers? I've seen some sites on the Internet
selling spare parts and am wondering about compatibility issues. (Have not
been able to find any spare parts specifically for Nordiska yet.)
Or is it possible that I happened to have bought a lemon? If I had realized
that an extended break-in period would be required for a new piano, or that
I would have to greatly tone down my playing style, I think I would have
bought something used instead...but I do love this instrument (and besides,
it's a little late now). I am concerned that with some of the repairs I have
made myself, the warranty might be voided. I don't remember seeing anything
in writing about this, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was the case (but I
hope not).
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
John C.

[Greg Casper]

John:

The situation you are describing is completely AB-normal. I've seen a few
new pianos with some problems, but nothing like what you're describing.
Sounds like you might have a lemon on your hands. I'd begin talking with the
store where you purchased the piano about a full replacement. You should NOT
have to do any kind of action work like that on a new piano. Tuning, yes...
and maybe some voicing and regulating. But replacing multiple wippen pins...
I think not!

Greg

Post by John C
Have been lurking here for a little while and enjoy the posts I've read so
far. I was hoping for some info & assistance. Back in June I bought a new
Nordiska Classica upright. Have been playing for about 30 yrs and this is
the first time I've ever been able to purchase a brand new piano. Beautiful
instrument & great tone.
Only thing is that I've been having a hell of a time with the action on this
piano. I knew it would take a while for the tuning to stabilize, but had no
idea I'd be removing & replacing pins on the wippens so often. It's driving
me crazy...so many stuck notes it's unbelievable. Every time I turn around,
the action is coming back out & being reworked.
Is this normal for a new piano? A definite contributing factor is my playing
style...lots of Joplin, Beethoven, and Chopin. Have to admit that I do play
a bit too hard, but that's the only way I've ever played.
It does have a factory warranty, but there have been so many sticking notes
that I've taken to replacing pins myself. The other alternative would be to
have a technician come to the house at least once or twice a week...it's
that bad. Now some of the wippens are really getting too loose from being
worked with more than I feel comfortable...and notes are still sticking (or
keys are sluggish).
Another question is this: Are wippens & other action parts fairly
standardized among manufacturers? I've seen some sites on the Internet
selling spare parts and am wondering about compatibility issues. (Have not
been able to find any spare parts specifically for Nordiska yet.)
Or is it possible that I happened to have bought a lemon? If I had realized
that an extended break-in period would be required for a new piano, or that
I would have to greatly tone down my playing style, I think I would have
bought something used instead...but I do love this instrument (and besides,
it's a little late now). I am concerned that with some of the repairs I have
made myself, the warranty might be voided. I don't remember seeing anything
in writing about this, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was the case (but I
hope not).
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
John C.

[Ray Brohinsky]

Post by John C
Only thing is that I've been having a hell of a time with the action on
this piano. I knew it would take a while for the tuning to stabilize, but
had no idea I'd be removing & replacing pins on the wippens so often. It's
driving me crazy...so many stuck notes it's unbelievable. Every time I
turn around, the action is coming back out & being reworked.

This looks wrong to me.

Pins might get bent, and slog up the action, if you're beating on the keys
with sledgehammer hands. But the normal occurance in an action center is
for the pin to wear or compress the felt bushings, making the action center
looser, not tighter. Instead of sticking, the keys should be rattling in
their boots at the sight of you (if you are, indeed, a very energetic
player).

Also, replacing pins with the same sized pins would of necessity mean that
the action should be getting looser, because the felts are taking a beating
when the pins are replaced, as well. Normally, when a pin gets replaced,
the new pin is chosen a half-size larger than the old pins, and the action
center is tested for friction, not too low, not too high. If you're just
putting the old size of pin back in, the centers should be getting looser,
again.

You don't say (which would be useful information) anything about whether you
are replacing pins on the same whippens all the time, or if you're working
your way through the entire piano? When you replace a pin, does that key's
mechanism work to your satisfaction?

You see, the replacing=pins=to=repair=tightness thing bothers me. And it
leads me to this question: Where do you live? Is your Nordiska piano made
to survive in your area's climate?

It is just possible that your piano was built (intentionally or otherwise)
for a dry climate, and you live in one of the moist climate areas. In this
case, (especially if your relative humidity runs over 50% a lot of the
time) the piano could be simply swelling with absorbed moisture.

The solution to this is a Dampp-Chaser, not stressing the action center
bushings by a constant train of centerpins. More info, including help
finding a local technician who is able to install a dampp-chaser, can be
gotten from their website, http://www.dampp-chaser.com/ and I highly
recommend that you visit there, if you don't have one. If you do have one,
get it serviced immediately. (It would be under warranty still, since the
warrantee is 5 years after installation, and this is such a new piano.)

If, indeed, the pins are bending, and you are replacing them with larger
pins, after properly dressing the bushings, then eventually you will put in
a pin of large enough diameter that the heavy touch you use on the piano
will not bend them, so in a way, you could be on the right track. Even
still, it would have to be a monumentally heavy touch, and you might be in
need of a talk with your piano technician (or a second opinion, perhaps).
Some things can be done to counter heavy touch at the keyboard, which might
save the action centers. That is a determination that a technician can make
if he's there to see how you play, make measurements on the piano, etc.

And if you aren't banging on the piano, but the keys are sticking, and it's
not bent pins (perhaps something else that is being exercised or relieved
in the process of pin-changing?) there might just be something wrong with
the piano itself. In which case, try your dealer, and failing useful
response there, go straight to Nordiska. I do know of a case where a fault
was found in a Yamaha piano that was a few years old already, and Yamaha
moved heaven and earth to replace the fault and reclaim it so they could
analyze the problem and not repeat it: most piano companies are interested
in both satisfying the customer _and_ preserving their good name.

I hope this has been of some help.
raybro