Shift Problems

[Bill Ballard]

At 6:36 PM -0500 10/24/02, Avery Todd wrote:
>Any ideas I've overlooked? The piano is only about 1 yr. old. The
>5 yr. old one shifts much further and is fine. Thanks for any
>ideas.

Considering the young age of the piano, I'd call it a warranty 
problem, and give the factory
a call. As I remember Abbey Simon was for years a Baldwin artist. 
Maybe he now has a Steinway because during Baldwin's change of 
owners, they had to drop their service to him. In that case, Steinway 
should be very interested in making sure that this piano is right. 
(Maybe Mr. Simon even has a contact at C&A or the factory who can 
expedite it for you.)

Obviously, wherever the problem lies, the factory spaced the action 
parts right around it without correcting it.  I'd pray that it's a 
bumper block too fat. The consequences of trimming that are far less 
than those from trimming the treble keyblock, as Ron points out. The 
factory should be able to tell very quickly if you give them the 
width of the treble keyblock.

How you set up the spacing and shift is matter of opinion, whether 
full shift is 75%, 100% or 150% of string spacing, and whether at 
full shift, the hammer is still striking three strings, just about to 
drop off the LH string or allowing the LH string to be activated but 
the other two. These are different sounds, and not all pianos sound 
good with all of these set-ups.

At 8:09 PM -0400 10/24/02, Kdivad@aol.com wrote:
>  By the way most of the techs I know adjust the shift so the left 
>edge of the hammer just touches the >left string not completely 
>missing it.  The idea being subtle changes in flavor rather than 
>gross changes.

This set-up is very exacting and it's also very vulnerable  to wear 
and weather. What's the second B. Is that side-by-side with the 
1-year-old? How is the UC on that one set-up?  Does Mr. Simon like 
that one's UC sound?


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

"Can you check out this middle C?. It "whangs' - (or twangs?)
     Thanks so much, Ginger"
     ...........Service Request
+++++++++++++++++++++