June Journal and FW's

Bill Ballard yardbird@pop.vermontel.net
Fri, 31 May 2002 00:04:45 -0400


At 8:09 PM -0700 5/30/02, David Love wrote:
>I meant to say that Renner is making an assist spring wippen with an
>adjusting screw for tension just like the one that Tokiwa currently makes
>and is available from a variety of sources.  Renner's turbo wippen must be
>adjusted by bending the spring.

Stanwood has been making screw-adjustable Assist Spring Wips (ASW) 
since winter of 99. A couple of years earlier he convinced Lloyd 
Meyer that there was a market for the Turbo-Whips. David had been 
installing the springs in reps since 93? 94?

Just as a fine tuning of BW? It seems a waste of their abilities. If 
the SWs were right in the 60 percentile range, and the SBR was below 
6:1, I wouldn't feel shy about counterbalancing at least ten if not 
fifteen grams of lead. As an experiment and a relatively risk-free 
one. If you reconsidered and wanted to raise the FW (an analog for 
total inertia), while keeping the BW the same, you'll certainly 
appreciate a adjustable WAS while setting the constant BW.

If everything else is right, then a major shift in the weight load 
from lead to spring would seem to avoid triggering obvious adverse 
consequences, and thus allow the pianist to explore a low inertia 
free of such avoidable mechanical consequences. But low inertia 
simply might be mismatched with the amount of strength and weight we 
pianists in the 21st Century carry. Remember, a hundred years ago 
human beings weren't as heavy, and didn't live as long. Horowitz 
certainly could control his low friction, low inertia action. There 
may be something to be discovered there.

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"No, Please wait, you're all individuals" Brain Cohen, exasperated
"Yes, we're all individuals"  the throng assembled in the street
                 below his window, in unison
"I'm not..."  Lone dissenter.
     ...........Monty Python's "Life of Brian"
+++++++++++++++++++++


This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC