Lost Motion and Touchweight

J Patrick Draine draine@attbi.com
Tue, 3 Sep 2002 21:27:10 -0400


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On Tuesday, September 3, 2002, at 08:03  PM, Patrick C Poulson wrote:

> Hello all: I got a call today from a customer whose Knabe console I 
> serviced
> at the end of July. She complained that something I did has made the 
> piano
> have a very heavy touch, not only to her but to her husband, and she 
> wants
> it put back to its former condition. I looked up my record on the piano 
> and
> saw that aside from tuning it I adjusted the lost motion.

>   My guess is that she had
> grown accustomed to playing an out of adjustment action, and that a 
> properly
> adjusted action with a firm touch feels "heavy" to her.

Sometimes (maybe always) it's good to show the client the problem (in 
this case lost motion), and give some explanation of the pros (the touch 
will be more responsive, full letoff & aftertouch) and the cons (it will 
feel heavier). In addition one of the "cons" in an older vertical action 
is that correcting for lost motion may cause the dampers to engage very 
early (may even be ringing after the note is played!). Thus the "quick 
fix" of correcting capstan adjustments may necessitate a round of damper 
spoon adjustments, which you will feel you should be paid for and she 
may feel is a scam. Perhaps you could try regulating one or two damper 
spoons, and see if she *likes and appreciates* it. If she does, she has 
the option of a) paying for the addition service of damper spoon 
regulation, or b) you can add enough capstan lost motion to make her 
happy (probably at no charge).
Best of luck,
Patrick Draine

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