Jim, At 01:29 PM 4/2/99 -0500, you wrote: >List, > >In some Euro pianos, I'm aware of what could be considered "minimal >aftertouch". >I have the following questions: >Anyone with more experience with old Ibachs? Yes, a couple of regulars. A poorly restored (from H2O damage) 6'6", and a 1920ish 6' with individual tied strings and a very nice action. Hard to judge ANYthing on the bigger one, but on the other aftertouch is present, but not "deep". Different bore on better hammers would make it possible to get a little better (more) safety factor, but it does ok with slightly late drop and borderline "cheaters" with hard/fast strike. Did I mention it needs knuckles? >Do they (originally) qualify for the 'minimum' aftertouch phenomenon? Hard to tell. Only other old ones I've seen were unique cabinets, and the key height may not have been "factory". The water damaged one is pretty standard, spec-wise, but everything was messed with, and it's very uneven. Uses up the customer's budget just to keep it at pitch, so there's been no attempt at un-fixing the problems. >Are new keyframe cloth/felts going to help a little/lot/none? Uh.... ask again after you've seen 'em? >Will I have room to play with key height/dip parameters (keyslip, f/b, >cheekblocks)? The 6' er that I know has lotsa forgiveness. >On a related matter, same piano. I last played a -new- Ibach about 18 >months ago. Since I only played it for about 20 seconds, I don't remember >the touch, because it was strident enough to break glass, and it hurt my >ears! Speaking of strident... Yeah, I thought the new ones were Asian mfg. > > However, assuming crown, bearing are okay (which I don't >know), what -should- I expect as a "signature" sound for this instrument? The 6' er is a sweety with the guts to get rowdy. Again, new hams and knuckles would help. The bigger one is just plain rowdy. I think the replacement hamms were 2nd-hand S&S , drowned in laq. >Summary: I _am_ trying to change the aftertouch part -- it's currently >unacceptable to the player (although she didn't know why). What kind of playing does she do? By the time you try to file "shot" hamms, and then raise the line to bring the blow into a decent ballpark, you may have aftertouch out the yinyang. Might have to tilt the stack! Have fun anyway. Guy Nichols RPT "I leave you as I found you -- only some time later." -- John Lennon
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