Thanks Ed, for this information. Unfortunately, although this all makes sense to a piano technician, this guy is a piano player, and all he wants is someone to do the work. But he needed some specs to tell the technician what is right. Apparently he can't find someone in his area that is capable of doing this. (Maybe I can ask him if he'll fly me over there to do the work) :) Wim -----Original Message----- From: A440A at aol.com To: caut at ptg.org Sent: Mon, 29 May 2006 14:20:52 EDT Subject: Re: [CAUT] Erard piano << > My problem is that I cannot find an expert who will give me the correct > factory hammer blow distance and factory key depth, as well as damper > regulation.<< You can find the proper keydip by understanding that the sharps must not go farther than approx. 1 mm above the tops of the naturals when depressed, and they cannot be above 13 mm above the naturals when at rest. This is your range of keydip. The hammers must not lie on the rest rail, nor be more than 5 mm above it. This is your hammer range. Let-off can be set at 1 mm throughout the scale for a beginning specification. You should then be able to find a comfortable set of specs that are tailored to the performers sense of touch by varying the amount of aftertouch. ie. if you want to reduce the aftertouch to a minumum, (which will be the fastest action), lower your hammers or raise your keydip, or a little of both. You may then want to set your let-off to just below the lower excursion limit of the string when the string has been struck as firmly as the performer is likely to play it. The drop should leave the hammer at exactly the same height as let-off. Springs should be as strong as possible without being felt in the key upon hammer release. The knuckle should be in contact with the top of the jack, but no more than that. The distal edge of the jack should be even with the distal edge of the knuckle core. The dampers should begin to lift when the hammer is halfway to the string. Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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