stuck

[tech@steinway.com]

Paul and List,

This is a good one!  Three of us sat around this morning trying to figure 
it out, and managed to come up with more questions than answers - e.g.. How 
old is the piano?  Are the repetitions original? Are the hammers glued at 
the same place on the shank?  What is the keyheight?

General consensus was that both problems are probably related to stack 
height and/or the new parts.  Larger Renner hammers, a stack which is too 
low, and (if the reps are new) a change in the repetition profile could all 
be the culprits.

It does seem that the blow is narrow and dip is shallow.  These should both 
be increased by lowering the capstans.  This will have the added benefit of 
solving the jack problem (test this out on any action).  Making this 
adjustment with the backchecks out of the way should simplify and clarify 
the situation.

Unfortunately, it will aggravate the hammer/backcheck problem.  How high 
are the backchecks?  What is the distance between hammer tail and backcheck 
at let-off (should be 1-2 mm)?  How much larger are the new hammers?  This 
one is very hard to diagnose without seeing the piano, but raising stack 
height might give you the clearance you need.  Or, it might be necessary to 
trim some felt off of the hammer.  This solution has been used in some 
 settings where very high checking was required for maximum repetition.

Whatever course of action you choose, keep in mind that the way the action 
plays is more important than measurements, it is not unusual for the jack 
to make some contact with the felt on the balancier, and the simple 
solution is always the best solution.

This post was prepared with significant input from Gary Green, Steve
Marcy, and Kevin Stock.

Stephen Dove
STEINWAY & SONS
New York




-----Original Message-----
From:	NBWW@aol.com [SMTP:NBWW@aol.com]
Sent:	Wednesday, July 22, 1998 9:45 AM
To:	pianotech@ptg.org
Subject:	stuck

List

I was asked to regulate a Steinway B. What I found has me stuck. Two 
things.
When the hammers drop after releasing the keys they hit the top of the back
checks. Hammers are bored to factory specs. Checking is very good. No 
amount
of  repositioning the back checks seemed to solve the problem without
compromising their function. The sesult is a slight "bump" feeling in the 
key-
like you get when the under lever stop rail is set too high and the dampers
bounce.
The other problem is the jack. With the dip at .375, blow at 1 5/8", the 
back
of the jack is being pressed into the cushion in the back of the balancier
window. It is literally captured between that cushion and the let off 
button.
Increasing either the dip or blow distance makes the problem worse. At 
these
settings the action functions and feels good to me. I've done a lot of
regulating in 22 years and I'm still learning, but I can't make sense out 
of
these problems. I've seen the hammer problem on a Steinway D once and the 
jack
problem on a Kawai GS 60. What have I missed? The college is trying the 
piano
today and I'm calling them next week for a report. There is evidence of 
other
techs attempts to deal with this piano and the current tech is smart enough 
to
know its over his head. He's grateful to find some one to pursue the 
problems-
for there are many Steinways on the campus and in town that have no one to
service beyond tuning and some regulating.  Am I standing too close to the
trees to see the forest?

Paul Chick RPT