[CAUT] Erard piano

[wimblees at aol.com]

Thanks Ed, for this information. Unfortunately, although this all makes 
sense to a piano technician, this guy is a piano player, and all he 
wants is someone to do the work. But he needed some specs to tell the 
technician what is right. Apparently he can't find someone in his area 
that is capable of doing this. (Maybe I can ask him if he'll fly me 
over there to do the work) :)

Wim

-----Original Message-----
From: A440A at aol.com
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Mon, 29 May 2006 14:20:52 EDT
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Erard piano

<< > My problem is that I cannot find an expert who will give me the
correct > factory hammer blow distance and factory key depth, as well
as damper > regulation.<<

You can find the proper keydip by understanding that the sharps must 
not
go farther than approx. 1 mm above the tops of the naturals when 
depressed,
and they cannot be above 13 mm above the naturals when at rest. This is 
your
range of keydip. The hammers must not lie on the rest rail, nor be more 
than 5
mm above it. This is your hammer range. Let-off can be set at 1 mm 
throughout
the scale for a beginning specification. You should then be able to 
find a
comfortable set of specs that are tailored to the performers sense of 
touch by
varying the amount of aftertouch. ie. if you want to reduce the 
aftertouch to
a minumum, (which will be the fastest action), lower your hammers or 
raise
your keydip, or a little of both. You may then want to set your let-off 
to just

below the lower excursion limit of the string when the string has been 
struck
as firmly as the performer is likely to play it. The drop should leave 
the
hammer at exactly the same height as let-off. Springs should be as 
strong as
possible without being felt in the key upon hammer release.
The knuckle should be in contact with the top of the jack, but no more 
than
that. The distal edge of the jack should be even with the distal edge 
of the
knuckle core.
The dampers should begin to lift when the hammer is halfway to the
string.

Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html