Avery; "an older Steinway L. The damper underlevers have the helper springs and they seem to be adjusted too tight." Avery does this mean that the underlevers have always been too tight/heavy? You might want to check the pinning on both parts of the underlever before starting the readjustment of those springs. Some questions you might want to ask yourself-- 1. do the dampers seem heavy through the keys ? 2. do the individual underlevers seem heavy to your finger with the action removed ? 3. are the lifter felts indented heavily or worn out ? 4. do the damper wires slide without resistance in the guide rail ? 5. at what point on the lifter felt does the underlever meet ? There are two ways of adjusting the tension on the underlever springs (a.) changing the coil (b.) raising the stem; there may be others that I am not aware of. While you have the tray out be sure to clean and regraphite (or whatever) the spring grooves These are some of the questions I ask myself before I start doing anything with an underlever assembly and it helps me to write it out occasionally. . Although I am sure that you have thought through these points a reminder can't hurt. Good tensioning. Jim Bryant (FL)
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC