Jim Busby wrote: >You can make the action work by making sure rep. spring is not too >strong and by periodically roughing the tails, but conventional wisdom >says we need proper friction in the right places to make an action feel >and work correctly. Right?? Any thoughts on this? As I sat in the Steinway classes on Thursday at the Convention, and listened to Eric Schandall, Ron Connor, and Kent Webb talk of 1-4 grams of friction, I was reflecting back to last fall when our newest piano faculty member, quite a player with an impressive resume, asked me to do something with the light action on our most preferred D, an 8-year-old gem. I knew what she was asking. She couldn't control a pianissimo. I brought the action back to the shop. The hammers were swinging about 15-20 times. The flanges would not hold the screws without falling. It had been a couple of years since they'd been repinned and I knew what the problem was. I repinned the hammershank flanges with 4-8 grams of resistance, and cranked the rep spring tension up so that the hammers would rise. There's no worry about bouncing at the top with that much friction, and I've not had a problem yet with repetition. When her Russian accent exclaimed the word "MAGICAL", I knew I had earned her trust. Checking problems vanished. She raved about the voicing I had done (none of course, except for repinning the flanges). Again, in her Russian accent, "you see, you have made this a wonderful instrument." And just in time for her debut recital that evening that people are still talking about a year later. Just last week, after her rehearsal with the USC orchestra, she asked if we could move that piano over next door to the Koger Center Performing Arts Center for the concert. (I'm not the tech for the Koger piano) Not something we've ever done, but we did it for her this time. You should read the review of her performance. Granted, the hammers are light on this instrument, I was getting about 48 grams downweight after the repinning. (Back to the convention) I couldn't imagine being able to control an action with the friction parameters they were telling us were the ideal. However, they HAVE increased the weight of the hammers for tonal reasons. I assume the new friction parameters are an effort to offset the heavier hammer weight, although I think Steinway has long advocated 1-4 gram parameters. But what they claim makes lower friction possible is the impregnation of teflon in the bushing. It's still quite firm, but there's little friction there. I haven't run into a new one yet with the new standards you are describing, and though it would seem to me that the "new" way just couldn't possibly result in enough friction for good control, that is from my experience with actions before the changes had been made. I think I'd give a watch-and-see before I tried to use old techniques on Steinway's new design, and if you're still having problems, let the techs at Steinway hear about it. I got the impression they are making an honest effort to hear what we in the field have to say. My thoughts. Jeff Jeff Tanner, RPT Piano Technician School of Music 813 Assembly ST University of South Carolina Columbia, SC 29208 (803)-777-4392 jtanner@mozart.sc.edu
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