Piano Mystery

Warren Fisher fish@communique.net
Wed, 25 Jun 1997 09:28:53 -0700


Bonifield/Poulson wrote:
> 
> Warren et. al.: Thank you for your responses.  I can't see how dented
> wippin cushions can cause anything but lost motion.  However, your
> suggestion got me to thinking.  Obviously the hammer butt leather wears
> at the same rate as the rest of the action.  Could this be the cause of
> the problem?  An indented hammer butt would effectively make the butt
> smaller, and therefore not go as far toward the string with the same
> amount of letoff as a larger or unworn butt.  Am I on the right track?
> Pat


I don't know Pat, it may be more than one thing.  I just know that I
frequently make minor lost motion adjustments as I tune as part of the
"service call" rather than just "tuning call" attitude I try to keep,
because this many times corrects back checking and bouncing hammer
problems.  I think we need some more info like key dip (shallow or
deep), blow (how long), string grooves (how deep), lost motion, is the
back rail and center rail cloth still there?

My thought was that if the butt was dented and you raise the capstans to
remove lost motion you would also be putting the starting position of
the jack tender closer to the let-off button than it was originally,
which would cause early let-off.  If you also had too much dip, that
would compound the problem, I think.

Warren
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Warren D. Fisher
fish@communique.net
Registered Piano Technician
Piano Technicians Guild
New Orleans Chapter 701


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