At 09:02 AM 5/31/2004 -0600, you wrote: >But are any of you really advocating 3 mm (=1/8") letoff in grands? And in >concert grands in particular? Seriously? Are you really contending you >ever need that much of a safety margin? Well, Fred, while I agree with you in general (only not on 1/4" check distance) I can think of one time when one needs this much safety margin. I've had to deal with blocking and bobbling in too many otherwise nicely rebuilt grand actions after they've been delivered and played a few weeks. For that matter, I've had to fix dragging backchecks as well, on a well-rebuilt grand. My general theory has been that the (good) rebuilder just put too ambitious a regulation on when the parts were new and were going to settle in. In general, though, I like a little more relaxation in a regulation. When it's right down to the utmost whisker of a hair it feels tight and nervous to me. But sure, it's a matter of taste, and some pianists would really like it. Sometimes, also, one has a situation where a piano being used by a wide variety of pianists may have to go awhile in between tweakings (budget, schedule, etc.). I like a regulation which I'm confident will age well for a place like that, and for me that means a little margin. In particular, that kind of piano may not be repinned quite as soon as would be desirable, and so the hammers get loose and that lets the springs get too aggressive. Then the double-strikes are a real issue. Regards, Susan Kline Linfield College
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