Hi Gordon. I use the Hale tool ( I think thats what its called) and pull back on them in the middle. You really dont need much tension on them at all. Del wrote some good stuff on upright dampers some years back and that is worth a read. Thumb of rule is that they dont need any more tension then is necessary for them to quiet the strings quickly and sufficiently enough. Often you can back them off so as to gain as much as 5 grams static downweight reduction.... perhaps more in extreme cases. Jack return springs are a bit tougher to reduce. But basically you take an appropriately wide flat faced screwdriver or similar tool, insert at the closet point to the jack you can get... and press them downwards... hold them down for a few seconds. It wins you a bit. Same thing applies however.. these springs need be no stronger then is needed to get the jack back under the knuckle fast enough. If the jack center is tight then change the center... dont compensate by strengthening the spring. Dont push the hammer rail in unless that is called for in itself. And I would not recommend anymore then standard spec lost motion... which is a rats hair thin... jack is supposed to engage the knuckle almost immediatly. Introducing more then absolute minimal lost motion gets you into lots of other things immediatly and in general the action is not designed to work that way. Cheers RicB Thanks for the suggestions, and what, specifically, is the best way to weaken these springs ??? ( Yeah, I know, bend 'em. But exactly how, where, and how much ? Especially the jack returns springs ??? ) I could "weigh off" the keys with lead, too, but unless I wanted to do a full "drill job", the only place I imagine putting leads would be screw-on types, on the keys' undersides. I also thought of pushing the hammer rail in, a bit, but that might throw something else off. ( And these Yammies are pretty fussy, as we know ! ) Peace, G
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