George Steck Grand Oddity

[pcpoulson at sbcglobal.net]

While we're on the subject of odd pianos, I am working on a George Steck 
baby grand with an action that is new to me. It has a spring loaded lever 
assembly that rotates the wippens forward when a pedal is depressed, causing 
the hammers to rise with out introducing any lost motion. This duplicates 
the soft pedal action on an upright. Interesting idea, but it makes 
regulating the action a challenge, particularly when levelling  and setting 
dip.
    The other oddity, which I noticed in another Steck baby grand several 
years back, is that the drop screw end of the wippen levers rub the hammer 
rail, to the point that the levers bind and prevent the wippens from 
returning to the rest position. On both pianos I wound up having to rout out 
the back of the hammer rail with a Dremel tool to gain sufficient clearance. 
On the first piano someone in the past had tried to get clearance by 
shimming the rail, with little success. Any one have a better way of dealing 
with these issues?
Thanks,
Patrick C. Poulson
Registered Piano Technician
Piano Technicians Guild