Pinning and Tone

[Richard E. West]

The question I have about the new Steinway pinning philosophy is:  How do you
regulate hammer rise and checking.  With an overly free flange, the repetition lever
spring is hard to adjust  It has to be strong enough to hold the rep lever in a
stable position above the jack for good jack return and for a good hammer line.  But
that means the hammer riser is too fast because of the loose pinning, creating
problems with double strikes and poor checking on a soft blow.  It's possible to
compensate by setting drop low to prevent double striking and setting the checking
distance closer to catch the hammer higher. But setting the drop low works against
good repetition and setting the checking high reduces power.  Both are more
difficult to set and, I think, less reliable over the long run.

To review what some seem to be saying over the past few weeks, does all this mean
I'm going to have to repin all new Steinway flanges?  Worse yet, do I have to weigh
off new actions because the factory weigh off was done with loose pinning?

Richard West, University of Nebraska