At 8:46 PM -0800 1/17/03, David Love wrote: >An interesting follow up to this. As you recall the original action weighed >at 42g BW and 49 - 50g DW, i.e. very low friction. When I replaced the >hammers and shanks, I rebalanced the weight at 38g BW. With the new >friction readings that gave about a 51g DW in the middle. Changes to the FW >pattern were minimal 1-3 grams on average still in the 85% range of maximum. Sounds as though the new SWs were close to the old ones. If not, then the knuckle mounting distance stretched on the new shanks. I mean, a 4g shift in BW, with "changes to the FW pattern were minimal 1-3 grams on average still in the 85% range of maximum". >Recall that she didn't want any real change in the touchweight. I was curious about that term, who was supposed to define it, you or her? >When she first sat down she said, "Oh, it seems a little lighter". But after >she played it for awhile, she said "Well, I'm not really sure if >it's heavier or >lighter, but it feels like butter." Real quantifiable stuff, eh. She's feeling the friction, and it sounds as though you've got it well regulated. >Anyway, that was a good thing. Heavier or lighter, she felt that >she could feel >the key all the way through the stroke. As opposed to "fly-away hammers and keys" >She was happy. Confirms my current >sentiment about default settings: 38 g balance weight with a friction range >of 15 g in the bass to 10 g in the treble and FW's of about 85% of maximum >makes for a really nice action. That's a god profile, especially one to get the reputation of delivering reliably. >For concert instruments, I prefer to go up >to 40 g balance weight. The bit of adrenalin that performers get >neutralizes that extra bit of weight and keeps the action from running away >from them if they get too excited. My old (classical) saxophone teacher told me about reaching for a slightly harder reed at concert time, than the one he'd prepared the music with. I personally think that there's a large group of pianists who don't wouldn't be slowed down by the difference between 38 and 42. What I was remarking on was the choice you were giving us: friction or DW. DW is achieved with friction or BW (or both), and because of that would not be in an either/or trade-off with friction. I was wondering whether you were surveying people's comprehension of BW. RickyB of course is nuts. <g> Bill Ballard RPT NH Chapter, P.T.G. "I'll play it and tell you what it is later...." ...........Miles Davis +++++++++++++++++++++
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