basic regulating question

[John Delacour]

At 13:06 -0500 13/2/08, Farrell wrote:

>..But one thing I really never do is "regulate" key dip - I mean I 
>do check dip onÊa number of keys to be sure I am about where I want 
>it, but I don't check all keys to make sure dip is exactly the same. 
>The pianist will sense an irregular aftertouch much more readily 
>than a few thousandths of an inch difference in dip. And if blow is 
>equal and lost motion is even and aftertouch is even, then dip is 
>going to be quite even automatically.

Yes.  Touch depth is one of the last things I regulate, and on a 
grand I use the position of the jack in the repetition "window" as 
the measure of how much I need to change it -- that's on days when I 
don't trust myself to do it simply by the feel of the after-touch. 
With uprights it can also be done by the position of the jack, though 
it's not quite so clear.

As to Julia's question, if the keys are forward weighted (which would 
be unusual here) then they need to be weighted at the back first.  I 
remove the rest rail to regulate the blow, so that there is no lost 
motion involved and a true even blow is achieved.  Once this is done 
the rest rail is replaced and adjusted, fine adjustment being done 
with strips of felt and/or card behind the baize, so that the proper 
amount of lost motion is achieved.  I aim to get it so that a 
_very_slight_ movement of the check can be seen before the balance 
hammer begins to move.

JD