Steinway "pinning" dilemma

[Jeff Tanner]

Sorry, I've been away a couple of days.  I don't mind if Eric reads my post.
Jeff

>Jeff,
>
>Would you mind if I let Eric read your post? It would be helpful to have
>a few "witnesses" like this so I would not be the lone man out.
>
>Thanks,
>Jim Busby
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
>Jeff Tanner
>Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 7:43 AM
>To: College and University Technicians
>Subject: Re: Steinway "pinning" dilemma
>
>Jim Busby wrote:
>>You can make the action work by making sure rep. spring is not too
>>strong and by periodically roughing the tails, but conventional wisdom
>>says we need proper friction in the right places to make an action feel
>>and work correctly. Right?? Any thoughts on this?
>
>
>As I sat in the Steinway classes on Thursday at the Convention, and
>listened to Eric Schandall, Ron Connor, and Kent Webb talk of 1-4 grams
>of
>friction, I was reflecting back to last fall when our newest piano
>faculty
>member, quite a player with an impressive resume, asked me to do
>something
>with the light action on our most preferred D, an 8-year-old gem.  I
>knew
>what she was asking.  She couldn't control a pianissimo.
>
>I brought the action back to the shop.  The hammers were swinging about
>15-20 times.  The flanges would not hold the screws without falling.  It
>had been a couple of years since they'd been repinned and I knew what
>the
>problem was.  I repinned the hammershank flanges with 4-8 grams of
>resistance, and cranked the rep spring tension up so that the hammers
>would
>rise.  There's no worry about bouncing at the top with that much
>friction,
>and I've not had a problem yet with repetition.
>
>When her Russian accent exclaimed the word "MAGICAL", I knew I had
>earned
>her trust.  Checking problems vanished.  She raved about the voicing I
>had
>done (none of course, except for repinning the flanges).  Again, in her
>Russian accent, "you see, you have made this a wonderful instrument."
>
>And just in time for her debut recital that evening that people are
>still
>talking about a year later.
>
>Just last week, after her rehearsal with the USC orchestra, she asked if
>we
>could move that piano over next door to the Koger Center Performing Arts
>Center for the concert. (I'm not the tech for the Koger piano)  Not
>something we've ever done, but we did it for her this time.  You should
>read the review of her performance.
>
>Granted, the hammers are light on this instrument, I was getting about
>48
>grams downweight after the repinning.
>
>(Back to the convention)  I couldn't imagine being able to control an
>action with the friction parameters they were telling us were the ideal.
>However, they HAVE increased the weight of the hammers for tonal
>reasons.
>I assume the new friction parameters are an effort to offset the heavier
>hammer weight, although I think Steinway has long advocated 1-4 gram
>parameters.  But what they claim makes lower friction possible is the
>impregnation of teflon in the bushing.  It's still quite firm, but
>there's
>little friction there.
>
>I haven't run into a new one yet with the new standards you are
>describing,
>and though it would seem to me that the "new" way just couldn't possibly
>result in enough friction for good control, that is from my experience
>with
>actions before the changes had been made. I think I'd give a
>watch-and-see
>before I tried to use old techniques on Steinway's new design, and if
>you're still having problems, let the techs at Steinway hear about it.
>I
>got the impression they are making an honest effort to hear what we in
>the
>field have to say.
>
>My thoughts.
>Jeff
>
>
>Jeff Tanner, RPT
>Piano Technician
>School of Music
>813 Assembly ST
>University of South Carolina
>Columbia, SC 29208
>(803)-777-4392
>jtanner@mozart.sc.edu
>
>
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