Let off (fwd)

[John Musselwhite]

Jim Coleman, Sr. (AZ)  (who says he still doesn't know it all.) wrote:

>I've long felt that let-off is one of the most important things we deal
>with in regulating grands (or even verticals).  I always try in the

In grands, the drop follows close behind if not of equal stature. The drop
should not be much more than the letoff.

>treble to get the closest let-off possible short of having a double
>bounce effect.  In the mid-range one needs to consider the string ampli-
>tude and make it a little wider so that when the string is in its down-
>ward excursion the jack isn't jammed tight when the hammer contacts
>the string causing a nasty twang.  The same thing is true in the Bass,
>except more so.

I will ONLY do that on concert instruments or by a player's request. Most of
the time I follow the manufacturer's advice. If it says letoff and drop are
1/8" or 1/16", that's where I set them. If you get the letoff too close,
then the drop must be close as well, which may lead to problems.

On pianos that are frequently serviced, setting the letoff and drop a little
closer works to the player's advantage, but in those instruments which don't
get as close attention, setting them closer can lead to regulation problems
as the parts expand and contract.

>The problem that I face often is that, since I usually do the voicing
>last, if I have to do any deep shoulder voicing in the treble, it causes
>the hammers to lengthen slightly so that the hammers will block on a
>pianissimo blow using a soft stiff fingered attack.  Then I have to go
>back over the let-off to correct that and then recheck after-touch etc.

Which is, IMO, the way to go with that. As we are all aware, any change we
make in one place has consequences in another, and all we can do is to keep
going over it until it's right.  B-})

			John

John Musselwhite, RPT
Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com