Sorry to have gotten behind in all of the conservation lately, but we did kind of hash this out some time ago and I'm sure you can find it in the archives. Look under inertia or leverage. There may be some disagreement, but I want to say that on this issue I agree that the factory was correct to change the leading pattern when they changed the leverage. Leading from the front uses less lead, but this also creates a little extra first moment of inertia, which causes the keys to start less smoothly. IMO, this effect is *usually* not a problem on higher leveraged actions, but often would be on lower leveraged actions. It has been my view that the optimum touchweight measurements for any particular players preference will vary with different configurations of leverage, inertia and mass. It should be clear that two systems with the same touchweight might not be perceived to require equal work to operate. In other words, the little extra initial resistance experienced from less lead in the front of the key can actually help with control as the resistance of leverage is decreased. Conversely, a smoother start becomes more important as the resistance of leverage is increased, or at least it is much more noticeable. This observation as stated presumes a given mass, but more or less mass will also have a significant, and interesting effect on our perceptions of resistance as related to the first moment of inertia. The resistances of leverage, inertia and mass are very different forces, and consequently, they will always feel differently. I also suggest that of these three forces, the one that remains the most elusive, is inertia. Dennis Johnson djohn@skypoint.com P.S. Thanks to all who came to, and especially to those who participated in, the CAUT forum this year. It really went well. Good job Vince!
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