Kimball Action

[Robert Goodale]

A most interesting situation.  I can't imagine anyone putting an action in a
piano and then squeezing through tight places to raise the rest rail and then
raising the hammers to match it.  I'd check the glide bolts.  If they are all
the way down this would significantly raise the action off the key bed.  If this
is not the case I'd say either someone or something has changed this piano so
that the action is wedged in there. I might suggest inspecting the piano
structurally to see if anything has happened to it.  See if the key bed has
warped somehow.  Look and see if the the stretcher is loose or warped, perhaps
the pin block is falling apart and sagging.  This could wind up being a symptom
of a much larger problem.

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV

"Bill J. Barber" wrote:

> I was recently called to review a donated church piano (Kimball 5'9" grand),
> to determine the amount of work it needed.  Hammer reshapeing, voicing, some
> regulation, and keybushings are all in order(some suprise!) .  However, the
> action is impossible to remove from the piano; the hammers catch on the
> pinblock about a quarter of an inch below the crown.
>
> It would appear that the action was placed into the cavity, the hammer line
> raised, and the hammer rest rail raised support the shanks.  In my haste, I
> failed to measure the blow distance to determine if it was anywhere close to
> correct, but the action seemed to play OK, with a reasonable amount of
> aftertouch.
>
> The lower support nuts on the rest rail are hexagonal, in very tight
> quarters, but are accessible.  I am not sure how well a wrench will work to
> drop them down.  I am hoping that once it is lowered, I will be able to
> finaggle the hammers past the pinblock without lowering the hammer line.
> Any suggestions?
>
> Bill Barber, RPT

"Bill J. Barber" wrote:

> I was recently called to review a donated church piano (Kimball 5'9" grand),
> to determine the amount of work it needed.  Hammer reshapeing, voicing, some
> regulation, and keybushings are all in order(some suprise!) .  However, the
> action is impossible to remove from the piano; the hammers catch on the
> pinblock about a quarter of an inch below the crown.
>
> It would appear that the action was placed into the cavity, the hammer line
> raised, and the hammer rest rail raised support the shanks.  In my haste, I
> failed to measure the blow distance to determine if it was anywhere close to
> correct, but the action seemed to play OK, with a reasonable amount of
> aftertouch.
>
> The lower support nuts on the rest rail are hexagonal, in very tight
> quarters, but are accessible.  I am not sure how well a wrench will work to
> drop them down.  I am hoping that once it is lowered, I will be able to
> finaggle the hammers past the pinblock without lowering the hammer line.
> Any suggestions?
>
> Bill Barber, RPT