Lost Motion Followup

[Patrick C Poulson]

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Hello All: Here's the rest of the story on the Knabe (actually Aeolian) =
console and the customer complaining about the heavy touch.  The owners =
complained that the key did not respond immediately to the touch, and =
also added that keys sometimes did not respond.  The first thing I did =
was to measure the touchweight - around 52 in the bass, 48 in the =
middle, 44 in the top octaves.  I demonstrated what lost motion was, and =
what problems excessive lost motion might cause.  I showed how adjusting =
lost motion does not change the touch weight.  I then put a thick card =
front rail punching under the hammer rest rail, and had them play the =
piano.  They liked it, and said that the piano played the way they liked =
it. Interestingly to me, they said that the keys now responded =
immediately, unlike before when the lost motion had been taken up.  I =
saw that they were registering the intial downward movement of the key =
before the jack engaged the hammer as the key responding. In reality =
although the key was moving, they weren't getting immediate response =
from the action itself.  The piano had been in the condition of having =
excessive lost motion that this is what they expected to feel when they =
sat down to play.
    One reason for the piano having excess lost motion after being =
serviced by several apparently experienced techncians is that this piano =
has a "compressed" action, which seems to require more lost motion than =
most to get reliably consistent repetition.  It could be also that the =
type of material on the hammer butt is rougher than usual, and does not =
allow the jacks to get back under as quickly.  In the future I will be =
more aware of the possible need for more lost motion than usual in this =
type of action.  As for the issue of  changing the touch through =
adjusting lost motion, I  frankly have never had anyone before have a =
negative reaction to my doing this.  Usually, if they notice, the owner =
is happy with the increased responsiveness, and elimination of problems =
like bobbling hammers.  Well, as they say, live and learn. =20
Patrick Poulson, RPT

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