The September 13, 2004 meeting of Nassau PTG was held at the Steinway Piano Gallery at the Source Mall in Westbury. The meeting started at 7:15 PM. Seven members attended. The secretary's report was only that we had our party in June and a good time was had by all. We had a treasurer's report from Paul Keogler. Mike Slavin reported that he is starting to look for a place for our winter holiday party. Allan Schumacker reported on the council meeting. Jim Birch and Kent Swafford were elected as president and vice president. Paul Kupelian is our NERV. There were several new items. Written exams will be done by examiners who are RPTs that have been trained. They will be called Certified Technical Examiners (TECs). Any RPT can qualify to become a TEC by undergoing training by assisting with the administration of technical exams and getting certified by the PTG Executive Board. This new procedure for administering of the technical exam will become effective at the end of April, 2005. Also, chapters now have to pay one half the annual dues for sustaining members rather than the previous one third. Long Range Planning Task Force presented to Council a general proposal to have two divisions in PTG, with PTG as an umbrella corporation. One division would consist only of certified piano technicians and the other division would be an association for piano technology, which could also include manufacturers. Each division would have representation on the PTG Board of Directors. This proposal was well received by Council, which authorized the task force to continue to develop the idea. Paul Kupelian will be at our next meeting to discuss this further with us. The business meeting ended at 8:15 PM.

Our technical was by Paul Keogler. It dealt with the Piano Disc. We were informed that older model Piano Disc systems used floppy disks and the newer ones can also use compact discs. We also saw a demonstration of the latest high-end version, which features a screen with a remote and internet connection capability so that MP3s can play on it. The unit, although quite costly, has been selling as an accessory on some Steinways. Paul also answered some of the questions about the Piano Disc system as well as the other systems currently in use. We thanked Paul for an interesting and well-informed presentation.

Last month I wrote about bridge repair and how to fill in the gaps with C.A. glue. If the bridge pins look fine and you have a bad buzzing in the bass section, take a closer look; it could be the whole bridge cap coming off. You can see the bridge roll off it. This can be a much easier repair than regluing pins back. Just take the strings off, and C.A. glue it back in exactly the original spot, then put the strings back. Sometimes the bridge cap breaks in many pieces. This repair is a lot more difficult. Take each piece off and put them next to each other in their correct order like a puzzle. Reglue one piece at a time,starting from the right or the left, then glue those pins in from that piece. Reglue the next piece and continue the same procedure until it is done. Sometimes there is a problem because the bridge cap swelled up or the bridge itself shrank. If this has happened, gluing the pieces doesn't work so easily. You might have to sand down or trim off small pieces of wood from the sides of the pieces so the bridge pin holes line up with each other,(cap holes and holes that continues into the bridge) because the pins won't go all the way in if they aren't. Dry fit each piece, putting each of those pins in first - then you will know if it is going to line up. Fill in all the gaps that you are left with,using C.A. glue. Put the strings back on.