Wichita PTG October 2016

President Joe Wisner
Vice President Ann Fell
Secretary David Norman
Treasurer Marty Hess
Newsletter Editor Roy Howard

The August 11th meeting was at Joe Wisner’s residence. There was no September or July meeting due to PTG conferences.

Our next meeting will be at a new piano workshop in the Parklane Shopping Center at Lincoln and Woodlawn. Sharps Repair. 955 S Glendale St, Wichita, at 7pm. Take the Woodlawn exit south from Kellogg, turn left at Lincoln, right at Glendale, just past the VA Eye Clinic turn into the parking lot when you see the US Flag and the white piano moving trailer.

•Dr. Howard, Christian Vilches, and Ray Clause have renovated 2,000 square feet into a piano restoration workshop and showroom. The Chapter business meeting will be short so we can enjoy reports from the Indianapolis Regional Conference, and to see what Sharps Repair is al about.

DO YOU WANT TO TUNE PIANOS? by Ann Fell. For those of you who know someone who would like to be a piano technician, this would be worth reading and a place to start the conversation. The link is: wrenchristine.wordpress.com/2015/10/17do-you-want-to-tune-pianos/ Have a great month!

•The Chapter Bylaws are now online. Please review. We are required to update the bylaws this Fall.

Congratulations to Chapter members selected for national committees: National Committee and task group members from our region: Exam and Test Standards - Ann Fell, RPT, Alan Crane, RPT.

Our next national Convention and Institute will be held in St. Louis, MO. This Convention will be celebrating our 60th year of PTG. We will also be hosting IAPBT. We anticipate a great Convention and Institute so start planning now. If you have a desire to teach a class, please contact Lisa Weller, RPT, Institute Director, 2017.
The Board approved that for the 2017 and 2018 Annual Convention and Institute, associates who are first time attendees will receive a $300. Discount.

Conference 2016 is scheduled for September and October, covering topics for techs and musicians of strings (México), woodwinds/brass (Spain), and pianos (Kansas). You are welcome at the workshop or on the road.

Please follow these instructions when you find the new BLUE and YELLOW cards in a System box. DO NOT try to register the warranty on our website in the same manner as you have been. IT WILL NOT WORK. The instructions for warranty registration are printed on every new card. This is an expanded version. Scan the QR code on the card with your phone OR log on to www.pianolifesaver.com/warranty.

There are only two pieces of information that are required to register the warranty successfully; your phone number and the System serial number. They are designated with a red star. * (You do not need a password or code to register a warranty. Your phone number will identify you to the database)

Once you have filled in these two fields, you have two options. You may scroll to the bottom of the page and click NEXT and SUBMIT, completing the registration. Just that simple. Or, IF YOU DESIRE, you may enter additional information. You do not have to. Fill in as many or as few of the fields as you like. Once you have entered all the information that you wish to, you can click SUBMIT.

The first time you register a warranty using this new system, we would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to send us your contact information, even if you are sure that we have it. This is the information that prospective customers will see on our website when they search for an installer. You do not need to do this each time, just when something has changed.

You will notice a second warranty card labeled PIANO OWNER. IF YOU WISH, you may give this card to your customer so that they may enter their warranty online in much the same manner as described above. You DO NOT have to leave this card with them, but you may. The database will recognize the duplicate entry if that happens and look after it.

Currently, you are not able to view a list of registrations made using the new method. The entire database is being overhauled, and that feature is not available as of yet. It will very shortly be available, and you will be notified when that happens. Don’t worry; no information will be lost. All installations registered in the past, either by mail or online will be saved. Please allow us a few weeks to complete this task.

You can increase the efficiency and value of your grand Dampp-Chaser installation by including a grand undercover. Made of high quality speaker fabric, the grand undercover encloses the area below the soundboard, making it less subject to fluctuations caused by air movement. This is particularly important in institutional settings where air is constantly circulating.

An undercover adds value to any system by:
1. Providing protection from extreme air current, thereby increasing tuning stability even further.
2. Keeping dust and dirt out.
3. Keeping the system out of sight.

Grand undercovers are available in 3 sizes. The rectangular grille-cloth is custom-cut to fit by the technician, and installed with self-adhesive Velcro and upholstery tacks.

If maintained properly, glue pots (for melting hide glue) can last a long time. The most common problem is letting the glue completely dry up in the pot. This usually requires chipping out the old glue, resulting in scarring up the liner.

There are several ways to prevent scarring up the liner. Some technicians prefer to work out of a small glass jar (immersed in water) rather than using the pot liner itself. For those who like to use the liner, it is best to remove the glue when the pot cools and the glue takes on a "rubbery" consistency and can be removed from the pot in one piece. This is especially good if you want to re-use the glue. (If you do intend to reuse the glue make sure you refrigerate it. Melted hide glue is a gelatin and you should treat it as "food". If you leave it out, it will spoil quickly.)

Another helpful item is our acrylic glue pot cover (part #G-1151/L). It stops water from evaporating from the glue. Condensation forms on the bottom of the lid and drips back in the glue, thereby keeping the glue viscosity consistent while the heat is on. The lid also has a small hole for the glue applicator, helping to eliminate uncontrolled dripping along the sides of the pot.

If your liner is beyond help, don't worry! Replacement liners available at Piano-Tec Supply Company.

The 2016 SCRC Piano Technicians Guild Conference will be held in historic Granbury, Texas October 13-15
http://scrcptg.org/

Piano Jobs
Interested in Piano Technology Jobs? You can automatically receive email notification of the most recent Help Wanted ads before they are available to the general public. Jobs vary from senior level university technicians to entry level retail operations and everything in between.
Check out the online Classifieds at www.ptg.org for a complete list of all opportunities. Have a job you want to list? Contact Shawn Bruce at shawn@ptg.org or 913-432-9975.
Click here to go directly to the new Piano Jobs community.

The Journal Chapter Technicals. Please share the interesting and meaningful technical programs you have conducted that can be reproduced by other chapters.

Send your articles and pictures to:
John Parham
john440@me.com
828-244-2487

Square Grand. Owner in Plevna, KS is asking $5000. It is tuneable but needs 20 custom keys made to finish the restoration. (Stephen Francis)

Workplace cooperation can mean:
◇ labour-management cooperation
◇ participative or cooperative practices in an enterprise
◇ employees’ participation or involvement in decision-making
at various levels.

Specifically, an effective workplace cooperation mechanism helps an enterprise to:
◇ Improve its decision making process and organizational performance
◇ Improve the employees’ performance and commitment
◇ Build up mutual trust between management and staff
◇ Increase job satisfaction
◇ Improve working environment.

Effective workplace cooperation is conducive to innovative ideas and enhancing productivity. It helps an enterprise achieve the "5-Is":
• improved organisational performance;
• improved employees' performance and commitment;
• improved workplace relations by building up a spirit of partnership between management and staff;
• increased job satisfaction; and
• improved working environment.

A difference in legislation has apparently killed efforts in Vermont to ban the sale of ivory in the state while another east coast state never took a vote. Both the Vermont state senate and the House passed legislation restricting sales but could not come to an agreement. The House passed a bill banning the sale of products containing ivory beginning in 2017 with a few exemptions while the senate's version went further, allowing products to continue being sold so long as owners registered them by the summer of 2017. No further action is expected during the current legislative sessions. Read "Effort to Ban the Sale of Ivory in Vermont Falls Short" Article.

Meanwhile, Connecticut legislators have also ended their session with a proposed bill that never came up for a vote.
On the other side of the country, the Hawaii legislature has passed a bill banning the sale of parts and products of 17 of the world's endangered species. The bill contains an exemption for musical instruments stating "The covered animal species part or product is less than twenty per cent by volume of a gun, knife, or musical instrument, including without limitation string instruments and bows, wind and percussion instruments, and pianos, if the owner or seller provides historical documentation showing the item was manufactured no later than 1975 and the covered animal species part or product is a fixed component or components of a larger manufactured item and is not, in its current form, the primary source of value of the item." The bill now goes to the governor.

One of the best ways to get information about what's happening in a particular state is to visit www.legiscan.com. Scroll down to the lower left "National Legislative Search" and then select either a particular state or all states. Then enter the word "ivory" in the full text Search Box.