I'm in the process of rejuvenation of a really nice Victorian/German Upright. I just finished installing the Hammer butts and putting in new shanks, in prep for the new hammers. As I was knurling shanks furiously, I started to notice a difference in the look/feel of each shank, as I knurled. I decided to sort them in two groups of perceived hardness/lightness. When I got done with the knurling, I decided to weigh off the respective piles. What I found was interesting. The pile that I perceived as harder/heavier, were! Those weighed out between 2.6g and 2.3g. The lighter/softer percieved stack measured out at 2.3g to 2.0g. I installed the shanks with the harder/heavier ones in the Bass/Tenor and the lighter/softer from mid-point up in progressively lighter weight, in the treble/high treble. I don't have a clue if this is going to effect anything, but we'll see. The lighter/softer shanks were in the upper treble, which is in keeping with the current thought of keeping the balance even throughout the keyboard. One thought occurred to me, would stiffer shanks, in the top treble, improve the tone? If that is the case, then the lighter/softer shanks will flex more, (or, at least, I assume so), creating a lesser tone production from all of the counter-productive flexing. It seems like a true "Catch 22". What think you'all? Hmmm? I never really gave this much thought, before. I guess I get more anal with Grands than Uprights. Best Regards, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon) Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC