Schimmel Upright question

[Richard Moody]

You might find the action OK, but if they want it still lighter
give them a little lost motion.  I know this seems like a terrible
cheat but after all its only an upright so read on.  Sounds like
the dealer was asleep and could or should have included a Damp
Chaser with it.  This is in the Houston area?  I am guessing it
has been on the floor long enough to pick up some Houston
Humidity.   Dirty trick #3.   "There is a play in period.  If
after 100 hours there is dissatisfaction......." BUT guess what?
By then there is lost motion and lost motion can actually lighten
touch.
     Consider what is called "break away tension", which is the
excess over inertia caused by friction for which an extra effort
is needed to get the hammer moving.  However if there is 1mm of
lost mo that means the key moves 1mm before trying to move the
hammer. Thus the break away of the key has already been over come
PLUS  the key is in momentum when the jack comes in contact with
the butt.   This extra momentum diminishes the feel of the
resistance of the break away friction created by the various
centers of which some are tighter than others and a few too loose.
    Depending on how the factory deals with friction in the
various flange centers.  You should see how they do it at the
Walter's factory.

 I can't believe anyone would spend 13,000 on any musical
instrument until it was to their EXACT
              ---ric



----- Original Message -----
  From: Avery Todd
  To: pianotech@ptg.org
  Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 6:18 PM
  Subject: Schimmel Upright question


  List,

  Does anyone have any experience with Schimmel uprights? I
received this from
  one of my outside customers and will be going to check it out in
the next
  day or so. Here's a part of the e-mail:

  >Dace bought a replacement, a Schimmel vertical, from the Piano
Store on
  >Westheimer.  Unfortunately, I
  >don't remember the model number, but the piano listed for
approximately
  >$13,000.  While trying out the
  >piano in the store, Dace noticed that the touch was just a tiny
bit heavy
  >and asked if it could be adjusted
  >if he decided to buy the instrument.  He was assured by the
salesperson
  >that the action could indeed be
  >adjusted