[CAUT] lighter touchweight

[Chris Solliday]

also alittle more dip will be perceived by the player as a lighter action.
What is the current kedip?
Chris Solliday
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: "caut" <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 8:22 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] lighter touchweight


>     I, too, will echo Don's comments, and add aftertouch to the list.
Either
> too much or too little can cause a perception of "heavy." Too little,
you're
> getting through the action cycle and slamming into the felt. Too much,
> you're wasting effort moving past the part of the keystroke that matters.
It
> can be a very personal thing exactly how much aftertouch someone wants.
And
> a definite amen to too much drop. This has the additional affect of
creating
> more spring resistance back pressure at the bottom of the keystroke, along
> with the extra friction of jack against knuckle, and the "thunk" feel of
> letoff. That together with heavy rep spring strength can really affect the
> feel.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
>
>
> On 10/17/07 2:59 PM, "Don Mannino" <DMannino at kawaius.com> wrote:
>
> > Jeff,
> >
> > "Heavy touch" is really to vague.  Under what conditions; i.e., heavy
> > during soft play" During loud chords? during rapid passages?  Or all of
> > the above?
> >
> > A few items to consider:
> >
> > - As was mentioned, damper lift could be too early.
> > - Black keys could be set too high - lower them to 12mm
> > - Front key pins could have high friction.  Polish the pins and apply
> > Teflon, and make sure the bushings are flat (not worn curved) and well
> > fitted.
> > - Jacks are too far under the knuckles
> > - Knuckles are flat or have loose skin
> > - Repetition springs are strong and / or drop screws are low
> > - Hammers are too mellow.
> > - Hammer center bushings are spongy, causing poor efficiency in hard
> > playing.
> >
> > None of the above will show up in a simple down-up weight measurement.
> >
> > I know this sounds whacky, but lift the lid and ask for the pianist's
> > comments.  I'm not sure how you should phrase it, but let them know that
> > there is a close interplay between tone and touch.  Tell him you suspect
> > that they may not be getting enough tone for his touch input.
> >
> > I would hesitate to jump into shimming moving the rail - if the down and
> > up weight are this nice, you will just begin to move away from the nice
> > balance the action currently has.
> >
> > Don Mannino
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> > Jeff Farris
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 1:40 PM
> > To: College and University Technicians
> > Subject: Re: [CAUT] lighter touchweight
> >
> > Alan,
> >
> > Exactly! I feel the same way, thank you. This piano feels good to me.
> > He knows it is in range for most people. He plays a LOT, and is perhaps
> > having some arthritis type symptoms. He just wants to know if it can be
> > a little better. I thought trying to remove just a hair off the hammer
> > tails might do it, but didn't want to go through the trouble and expense
> > for him if it still wouldn't be better enough. I don't see how it
> > couldn't improve a little. I might experiment with that and the shimming
> > the back side of the balance rail. I'll be sure to re-check damper lift
> > also.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> >
> >> Jeff,
> >>
> >> Part of the reason for my last post is that there are many pianists
> >> who'd kill for a piano with low 50s and high 20s. I'd be willing to bet
> >
> >> that the problem lies elsewhere. Too-early damper timing is often the
> > culprit.
> >>
> >> Alan
> >>
> >>
> >> -- Alan McCoy, RPT
> >> Eastern Washington University
> >> amccoy at mail.ewu.edu
> >> 509-359-4627
> >>
> >>
> >>>  From: Jeff Farris <Jfarris at mail.utexas.edu>
> >>>  Reply-To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>"
> >>> <caut at ptg.org>
> >>>  Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:33:53 -0500
> >>>  To: <CAUT at ptg.org>
> >>>  Subject: [CAUT] lighter touchweight
> >>>
> >>>  Hi List,
> >>>
> >>>  I have a customer who wants his 1975 Baldwin 6'8" grand to feel
> >>> lighter. It was virtually unused for many years and recently had an
> >>> action reconditioning and regulation. It weighed off pretty
> >>> reasonable. Downweight averaged low 50's to 50 and upweight averaged
> >
> >>> upper 20's to 30. Friction seemed low if anything. There isn't a lot
> >
> >>> of lead in the keys, as much as four weights in some of the lower
> >>> bass. The hammers have enough "extra" material in the cove to remove
> >
> >>> some in an arc shape.  I'm wondering if doing only that would result
> >
> >>> in enough weight loss to make much difference. Has anyone done this
> >>> procedure not in conjunction with leading, etc. and received good
> >>> results?
> >>>
> >>>  Sorry if you already received this. I tried to send this message
> >>> yesterday from a different source computer and don't know if it went
> >
> >>> out. :)
> >>>
> >>>  Thanks,
> >>>  --
> >>>  Jeff Farris
> >>>  Piano Technician
> >>>  School of Music
> >>>  UT Austin
> >>>  mailto; jfarris at mail.utexas.edu
> >>>  512-471-0158
> >
> >