Greetings, Thanks to everyone who sent in responses to the problem I described with backchecks. I appreciate hearing from each of you with suggestions/solutions ranging from the most obvious to the somewhat esoteric, all of which I had already tried with no success. Eventually, I began to suspect that the geometry of the action might be problematic; however, it was only after comparing an original teflon wippen with a replacement wippen from Renner that the differences became quite obvious. Turns out that action geometry was the culprit all along. There seems to be a 1 to 1.5 mm difference in the action spread between the teflon and Renner wippens. Furthermore, the balancier center pin on the teflon wippen is considerably closer to the hammer rail than is the Renner. After I regulated the new wippen and checked it in the piano, the backcheck worked perfectly on a soft blow every time. Problem solved! BTW, the hostages have been released unharmed, the SWAT teams have left, all the crime scene tape has been taken down, and the media have finally left for good. So, I guess it's back to work installing a new set of wippens. Thanks again for all the help. Tom Tom Seay Piano Tech Office School of Music The University of Texas at Austin t.seay@mail.utexas.edu
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