lost motion topic

[paulmcrpt@juno.com]

On Thu, 04 Nov 1999 11:24:40 PST "Jay Mercier" <jaymercier@hotmail.com>
writes:
>>
>1.  Which do you prefer on a 30+ year-old piano that has never been 
>regulated - excessive lost motion or incorrect keydip (assuming the 
>customer 
>will not pay for anything but a tuning AND I don't want any WISEGUYS 
>here.)
>
>2.  What are your thoughts when you come across this type of situaton? 
> I'm 
>guessing that many of you would ignore it.  Maybe some of you 
>encounter the 
>same thing?  Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
>
>
>Jay Mercier
Jay, 

I would point out to the customer that if the piano is unplayable, it is
difficult to impossible to tune.  At least, you cannot do your best work
tuning if the action is a mess.  Have they not noticed that when a key is
struck lightly, they get two or three notes for the price of one?
(blubbering hammers due to the jack not fully escaping) If the customer
has not noticed the problem, the chances are that they might not
appreciate the difference you make with the repair which reduces its
perceived value to them.  If you can demonstrate the difference, they may
pop for it.  When you take out a large amount of lost motion you lift the
wippen and so move the damper spoon toward the string.  Be careful that
you take this into account before you start unless you really like
regulating vertical damper spoons.

Paul McMillin, RPT
Carlisle, PA