Hi Jeff The strip behind the balance rail pins is just a quick variant of the half punching trick. Yes, alone it will raise the keys a very slight amount. Not enough to worry about in the first instance since it is just as quickly removed. You can quickly assess whether a bit of added leverage will please your player this way. If this does the trick for him/her... then you can adjust your leverage permanently in the way that you feel is best. Interesting case study you have posed so far I have to say. You give us very acceptable UW / DW parameters, a piano response tonal wise the pianist likes, an action that is both finely regulated and well groomed with very low friction levels.... and the pianist wants it lighter.... I'm reallllly curious as to what a Stanwood SW ratio on this instrument would turn out to be, and in particular how heavy the front weights and strike weights are. You say four leads in the bass... ? big leads and all close to the front of the key ?... or smaller and back towards the middle ? Course it could just be a case of a pianist who just plain likes a very light touch.... In which case you are going to have trouble keeping your UW's from dropping too low. 22 grams static is my absolute bottom line personally and really I go for a minimum of 24. Cheers RicB Thanks. I am familiar with the touch/tone relationship. Once a little juicing made a player feel like it was a little lighter. This guy is quite an accomplished jazz player. He loves the warm tone and doesn't want any hammer work to change the tone. The hammers were filed not too long ago. They are tapered nicely. Keypins and capstans have been polished and lubed. Key bushings are in good shape. I have never heard of this technique mentioned by others of putting a thin strip of paper or felt punching behind the balance rail pin. Wouldn't that affect key height? Or this is just as a test? Thanks again to all, Jeff
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