I agree that the cushions are there for a purpose, and on one occasion where they needed to be thinned, I actually had to shorten the regulating screws as well (clicking), though these were still well below the shank-rest line. All the same, I'm curious if our colleague (sorry I've dumped my deletes) with the action with the CAF problems tried winking the jack to see if the height regulating-button is bobbling (spring too weak to hold the lever down)? If it's bobbling, adding cushion thickness might mask the problem, but it sure as heck won't fix it. I'd also be real curious as to how many of our suspected CAF causes could actually pass the (2) jack tests and still fail to repeat? Mark Cramer, Brandon University -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Richard Brekne Sent: August 17, 2009 12:39 PM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAF Hi Fred. Yes I understand this... and of course have run into it, and I agree that the degree the rest cushions act as a rebound for the shank is tied to the hardness of the blow. I just never really thought about how often the cushion actually serves this purpose. And I've not really considered it in a repetition speed context. Most often when I see the shanks <<too high>> above the cushions its because they truly are too high and the hammer line simply needs to be dropped along with re-regulation of closely related parameters. This is one of the reasons I do not hold a 10 mm key dip as a spec written in stone as my good and respected friend André does. I'd rather stick close to home on hammer blow distance and fudge more on key dip...and perhaps a tad on letoff to get an acceptable aftertouch. Eric and I had a nice conversation at the Bergen Festival this year about a closely related subject.... finishing off the regulation he likes to fine touch letoff/drop by adjusting the jack rest position to get both actuated simultaneously. I mentioned I liked to also float the rep lever height relative to the jack. Both are to a very small yet effective degree fudgeable. Cheers RicB Fred writes: ...There's the sympathetic buzz, but there is also a click on impact, if a nut is "just loose." And it happens typically from mf up in dynamics. Hence, the shank must be hitting the rail. I can't say I have done detailed research (checking exact regulation parameters and whatnot), but I have observed this very, very often, and with the shanks set at normal distance from the felt on the rail. So it is hitting the felt and compressing it enough to set the wood in motion. BTW, I find that most individual cushions on wipps have at least moderate indentations in the middle after years of play (especially in the middle where they are played more). It isn't because the shanks were resting on them.
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