List,
Last night, I put this post on pianotech. This is a little long
but I thought some of you might find it interesting. Sorry about
the duplication for those of you who are on both lists.
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I ran into a new problem today I've never had before on a
Steinway 'B'.
The piano is one Abbey Simon uses in his studio and he's been
complaining that there wasn't enough difference when he uses the
"soft" pedal and there's too much noise when shifting.
While working on it today, I discovered that the noise is because
the keyframe is hitting the cheek block instead of the stop screw
(wood hitting wood).
With the block out, the action travelled a good bit further so I
adjusted the screw to stop the noise. But now, as it was before,
the action isn't travelling far enough to clear the left string,
which was the basic problem to begin with (except for the noise).
I don't see anything I can do to make the action shift further
except reduce the thickness of the cheek block. The hammers are
very well aligned to the strings, so that's not the problem.
Any ideas I've overlooked? The piano is only about 1 yr. old. The
5 yr. old one shifts much further and is fine. [It's also a 'B',
BTW.] Thanks for any ideas.
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To avoid duplication of responses (if any), here is a quick synopsis
of the ones I got last night:
1. 'IF' you have exhausted all other avenues and 'IF' there is room
between C8 and the cheek block....you could shave down the key frame
to get more shift....shaving the cheek block will work also.........
but is more difficult unless your wood shop has a rabbet(?) planer...
2. You have two choices. The first is to reduce the width of the cheek
block, which will also mean relocating either the dowel, or the hole in
the keybed, as well as that for the screw. The second is to reduce the
width of the bass stop block (?) and re-align all the hammers. You might
have to shave down where the shift lever ear engages the action and
the clearance channel for sliding it in. The third of your two
options is to
whittle away some keyframe and hope you can get enough shift before C-8
hits the cheek block. I'd go for door number 2. It's least destructive,
easy to dance to, most likely to work, and sits most lightly on the
conscience, if not the schedule.
It's a hand built piano, after all. Just needs some more hand building.
3. Avery, is the hammer starting point (before shift) enough to shift
the hammers slightly to the right? I'm afraid reducing the cheek
block thickness can present its own complications. The only other
recommendation
I can think of is to reduce the thickness of the key frame stop block,
which means you will have to shift the hammers and maybe the wippens. That
will give you more travel. By the way most of the techs I know adjust the
shift so the left edge of the hammer just touches the left string not
completely missing it. The idea being subtle changes in flavor rather
than gross changes.
4. Considering the young age of the piano, I'd call it a warranty problem,
and give the factory a call. As I remember Abbey Simon was for years a
Baldwin artist. Maybe he now has a Steinway because during Baldwin's
change of owners, they had to drop their service to him. In that case,
Steinway should be very interested in making sure that this piano is
right. (Maybe Mr. Simon even has a contact at C&A or the factory who
can expedite it for you.)
[S & S is what we have in our piano teacher's studios. As far as I know,
Abbey is still technically a Baldwin Artist. AT]
Obviously, wherever the problem lies, the factory spaced the action parts
right around it without correcting it. I'd pray that it's a bumper block
too fat. The consequences of trimming that are far less than those from
trimming the treble keyblock, as Ron points out. The factory should be
able to tell very quickly if you give them the width of the treble
keyblock.
How you set up the spacing and shift is matter of opinion, whether full
shift is 75%, 100% or 150% of string spacing, and whether at full shift,
the hammer is still striking three strings, just about to drop off the
LH string or allowing the LH string to be activated but the other two.
These are different sounds, and not all pianos sound good with all of
these set-ups.
>5. That was just a side comment I threw in, I should have known better
>than to make a comment without an explanation.
Believe it or not, I actually did that for awhile: decide where you want
the hammer to slip out from under the LH String, pick a letter drill of
the correct diameter to drop in between the keyframe and the bass
keyblock to fix that spot in the shift for regulation purposes, mute out
the Center and RH strings, and then space hammers for a consistent
"just-glance-the-string" sound. Ah Youth......
>The technique I am talking about does not rely on the left edge of the
>hammer barely striking the string, it relies on a 1/32" section of the
>left side of the hammer that has been subtly needled to make the
>difference in dynamics. As you can see this is much less sensitive to
>wear and weather.
Your set-up still hits all three strings, but provides for a zone on the
hammer strike surface which can be voiced completely separately from
the standard position. A very good set-up.
6. Hmm, that means it is a warranty problem, no? Check your damper/keyend
alignment and the position of the shanks over the rest felts, as well as
where the whippens are on the capstans. If the lateral spacing there will
allow it, I would simply space all all the hammers over to the right by an
amount that will leave them just striking the lefthand string. Then you can
adjust the shift pedal so that the pianist can clear the string, change to
softer felt, or graze the left-side string. Full pedal action in about
3/32" of movement!
All 88 hammers can be spaced the same amount to the right by using thin
strips of brown paper tape placed diagonally under the flanges. It doesn't
disturb much traveling, (though you may want to correct the usual factory
traveling insanity while you do this), and if the same amount of tape is
used under every flange, they all tend to move the same amount.
7. Avery, a very interesting story. I bet the keyblock is fine and
that the bumper block (against the keyframe's bass side) never got
trimmed. At it's original rough size, it's wide enough to make a
significant cut into the
shift travel. That's why the action finishers (or fly finishers) didn't
even bother installing a stop screw. (If you don't have time to do it
right, when'ya gonna......)
[Actually, there is a stop screw. The action just wasn't hitting it
because it was hitting the cheek block first. AT]
Actually the width of the keyblock is a mechanical matter, which might
not be as much fun as finding out whether the sound of the other B's UC
was something which he wishes you would achieve in the yearling.
Admittedly, you found an action which had been poorly set-up for the UC,
and maybe even not properly located. Or maybe someone in the case
department happened to grab a keyblock from the "D" bin for this B. But
now that you find yourself in a position to set it up, just how would you
like to do it. More to the point, what would Abbey like which he may (or
may not be) getting from the other B.
I also wouldn't be shy about asking the dealer to have first crack, as
long as you could be there while the work is done. Or, says the piano
tech, "at least, if I was doing it, that's how I would do it."
You'll also get some great music out of him.
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So, as you can see, some interesting comments. :-)
I measured some things this morning and sure enough, I believe the
culprit is the stop block on the bass end. The one with the problem is
about 3/16" thicker than the old one and there's an appreciable amount
of space difference on the two pianos between C-88 and the cheeck block.
The block differences are only about 1/16". Interestingly, the thicker
blocks are on the older piano with the most UC travel. Maybe because
the stop block was done correctly and they "could" be???? :-)
I don't think the stop block needs to be cut down that much as I believe
even 1/16th of an inch will probably make the UC work fine but I'm not
sure the hammers can be moved even that much on that kind of rail.
I'll call and talk to the dealer's tech in a little bit and see what he
says.
Avery
University of Houston
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