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

[Fred Sturm]

On 8/9/07 4:07 PM, "Barbara Richmond" <piano57 at insightbb.com> wrote:

> Well, this thread took an interesting turn while I was away from home.
>  
> Fred, tell me about moving those jacks on a well-regulated/lubed piano.  Is
> that "all" you did?  I mean, you couldn't just move 'em back and be done. I've
> never tried it--you had to go through everything again (right?).  I would be
> interested in knowing what changes to aftertouch you might have had to make as
> a result of it.  Of course, I could go experiment on my piano...but it's
> easier to ask.  :)
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Barbara Richmond, RPT

Hi Barbara,
    Actually, advancing jack alignment doesn¹t affect aftertouch. It does
affect simultaneity of drop/jack tender contact a bit. Why doesn¹t it affect
aftertouch? Well, though the tender will contact the regulating button
earlier, it will still get the jack to the point of letoff at exactly the
same point in key travel, and exactly the same relative to the string. So
you can actually nudge it (the jack line) back or forward a bit without
doing anything else if you want to, and not be caught by the regulation
police. 
    Moving all the jacks less than or maybe up to 1 mm will have a very
minor affect on that letoff/jack simultaneous touch, but I don¹t think it is
enough to really feel in isolation. You can fool with all three - letoff,
drop and alignment ­ to come up with an effect, of more or less obvious feel
of the letoff part of key travel. Less drop and alignment forward makes for
less obvious feel. So does increasing letoff a tad and leaving the others
the same. Increasing drop and/or decreasing letoff means more positive feel,
but with decreasing letoff you decrease aftertouch, which partly negates the
positive feel thing (more aftertouch also means a more ³positive feel).
    It¹s kind of a balancing act, but when you are in a pretty sweet spot,
you can make minor adjustments without really redoing everything. Does that
answer your question, or just make it more confusing?
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico


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