[CAUT] Black on Black... (Jack alignment)

[Tim Coates]

Fred,

I would be interested in knowing if you experience the same issues I 
think Chris Soliday eluded to:  the jack back versus the jack forward 
affects speed.  I agree that .5mm is a great deal of discrepancy and 
should not be there.  I deal with a number of Van Cliburn finalists and 
students from TCU (yes here in the Dakotas).  One of their obsessions 
is speed of repetition.   I see how what you are doing can be used with 
my methods.

I am always trying to tweak the performance instruments in my care and 
I find jacks to be critical to the condition of the piano.

Thanks,

Tim Coates

On Aug 9, 2007, at 3:12 PM, Fred Sturm wrote:

>         Yes, I agree, a .5 mm difference in alignment (one jack that 
> much farther forward than its neighbors, for example) is readily 
> noticeable to a sensitive pianist (and that is the pianist we cauts 
> are working for, or so I like to believe when I'm not in a cynical 
> mood <G>). As is a difference in setup of all jacks of the same 
> dimension. One of my piano profs recently complained about "lack of 
> positive feel" on her piano. What had I done? Adjusted the jacks 
> forward a bare smidgen, thinking it was too much resistance (letoff 
> was too noticeable). I moved them back. She's happy. 
>        Now your everyday amateur probably won't notice that 
> difference. And it only really shows up when everything is pretty well 
> refined. But "everything being pretty well refined" is a function of 
> obsessive attention to many details, of which this is just one. The 
> total effect is VERY noticeable to just about anyone who can play a 
> piano. So I don't like to take the attitude that something is "good 
> enough for the average bloke." It's not that much harder to get every 
> single unison dead on and solid on every single piano, to give a 
> different example. And the total effect of that is very noticeable 
> also.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
> fssturm at unm.edu
>
>
>
>
> On Aug 9, 2007, at 10:56 AM, Don Mannino wrote:
>
>> Ed,
>>  
>> As far as the disagreements go, I'll stay out of it.
>>  
>> Based on your statement about pianists feeling jack alignment, I must 
>> respectfully disagree. Most pianists with reasonable skill will feel 
>> .5mm misalignment, but will not be able to identify it as such. It is 
>> very important to be very even, although the exact best location 
>> might be debatable.
>>  
>> Don Mannino
>>
>>> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf 
>>> Of Ed Sutton
>>> Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 9:04 AM
>>> To: College and University Technicians
>>> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Black on Black... (Jack alignment)
>>>
>>> Tim and Fred-
>>>  
>>> Let's see.
>>>  
>>> You guys are disagreeing about the exact placement of 88 little 
>>> sticks in a 900 pound box.
>>>  
>>> By the time you're done with your adjustments, the result may be the 
>>> same, or may even vary as much as .7mm!
>>>  
>>> If there is a difference, probably 2 piano technicians in 300 could 
>>> feel it, maybe 1 pianist in 300.
>>>  
>>> Sounds like a good topic for a Blood Feud! ;-)
>>>  
>>> When I think about the stuff other people do, I think we are pretty 
>>> lucky to be worrying about jack/knuckle alignment.
>>>  
>>> Anyway, I am grateful for folks who are so passionate about this 
>>> work.
>>>  
>>> Ed Sutton
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