Roger: Ditto just about all of what Newton said, of course, with certain emphasis: Install hammers/shanks AFTER dampers are installed and regulated. All the more important with the sostenuto type action (which still takes forever to regulate, and probably must have the damper block screw inserts installed also...). I always quote hammer/butt/flange replacement as a minimum. The piano currently in my shop was the first of about 8 or 10 Steinway vertical rebuilds I have done with butts which might have been reused (A few years ago I let one slip by with old butts which should have new ones - I want to catch up with it someday). Most Steinway verticals I see have had too much wear to save the butts. Even when the buckskin still looks smooth and unworn, the new parts are so good, and I can't get myself to hang new hammers on old shanks anymore, so it's better to just replace the butts and flanges. I have made the mistake of using the original damper levers. If you do its a real crapshoot when the next one will break. On my current project (a really clean, hardly used "V" getting delivered this week), the customer opted for the "economy" rebuild, and did not replace the levers; four have broken in the shop with normal handling. I have taken pictures in order to show future customers. I now try to sell a damppchaser installation with the Steinway upright rebuild, and also repin on the "loose"side (I'm using 3/0 on this piano, and the pins feel good). Snappy pins with strings that render too easily are a formula for early retirement (especially if you just regulated a Steinway vertical with the old type sostenuto). We rework the wippens if they are not replaced. We replace jack springs, repin jacks (often loose) and whip flange (sometimes tight) centers. We break the jack flanges loose and reglue. Why not just replace wippens? New parts are expensive and it is better to have someone in the shop do this work than to have these old wippens haunt you for years. The reward is that the old Steinway upright really plays when rebuilt and well-regulated. Gotta finish this one now - Bill Shull University of Redlands, La Sierra University Loma Linda, CA In a message dated 99-07-06 08:31:18 EDT, you write: << Wally Brooks has Japanese made direct replacement parts for old S&S uprights that are superbly made, fit perfectly and are easy to work with. These are expensive parts but they do work. I am working on my second action with replacement parts. Some suggestions. If butts and levers are in good shape then replacing the flanges can go a long way to a functioning action. Remove all the parts except your samples. Check the pinning of then install the butts, keep them aligned at 90 degrees to the rail. Keep retightening the screws. Install new damper levers but keep the damper blocks. They are drilled at the exact angle needed to make them work best. If you need to replace any block make them from similar materials and drill the angle exactly to it's neighbors. If these blocks do not have metal inserts then install them. Install the damper levers, align the wires, install the blocks and install the new dampers. Be careful because there is little room for the operation of the damper levers between the spoons, action and the strings. Get the dampers working PERFECTLY, muting, timing, alignments, before installing the hammers. This is the most time consuming operation of them all. Adjust the spring tension of the new springs before installing the hammers. You travel the butts by rotating them around the screw. Shimming the flanges spaces the hammers. Figure that this action will cost you at least twice the time of a regular action. Lots of luck. >>
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