whippen weightlessness

[stanwood]

Hi Newton Hunt,

If weighing out this action is not an option then I'm not sure what to suggest.
My suggestion is to take upwt, downwt, and upwt with spring disengaged.
>From this data you can come up with two balance weight for each key.  One
with the spring engaged and one with the spring disengaged.

Take three measurments:

Up = UpWt with spring engaged
Down = DownWt with spring engaged
UPoff = UpWt with spring disengaged

>From these you will calculate two balance weights:

BW = BalanceWt with springs engaged
BWoff = BalanbeWt with springs disengaged

The formulas are:

BW = (Down + Up)/2
BWoff = UPoff + ((Down-Up)/2)

Where (Down - Up)/2 = Friction weight

I'll be touching on this at the "Changing the Way Pianos Feel" class in
Dearborn.

I would look for consistency and proper levels of BW and BWoff.

Change keylead configuration to correct BWoff.  Adjust spring tension to
correct BW.

If the BWoff is above 55 grams then the springs will be working too hard to
bring the BW down to an appropriate final BW of around 38 grams.

Ideally a rule of thumb is three leads in the bass two in the middle and one
in the treble.  However, actions with Strike Weight Ratios of from 5.0 to
5.7 are can tolerate more keyleaad usage, (more than the rule of thumb).

The best thing you can do is to make graphs of the data and show them to
your client along with hypothetical fixes.   This is the kind of stuff I do
for a living.  I know the graphs are very persuasive, even if the client
doesn't know what it all means.

David C. Stanwood

>Hi, David,
>	I have the care of a 7' Korean made piano with a Renner action.  I have
>taken no measurements yet but the kass keys have no lead weights at all.  There
>are some weights in the treble end.
>	The touch is so-so, uneven and on the light side which pleases the jazz
>players at this evpensive seafood restraunt.
>	Weighing out this action is not really an option but I would like your
>opinion as to the most effecient way of handling this situation.
>	How much lead is desirable to remain in a 'normal' inertial range?
>	How would 'low' inertia be percieved by a musician?
>	Considering the work these springs and strings are doing what would
>your forcast be regarding long term longivity?
>	This piano is used by name brand players, like Kenny Barron, and the
>person in charge of maintenance is concerned about quality.  The owner is
>concerned about cost, hence this piano instead of a superior Japanese or
>American make.
>	I look forward to your replay and seeing you later this month.
>		Newton
>		nhunt@rci.rutgers.edu
>
>