Cracked plate

[John Delacour]

At 8:03 PM -0500 12/14/01, Farrell wrote:
>It is a model A1 and is about 180 cm. Does that help? Thanks.

I've never heard of a bad plate on this model.  The A1 is quite rare 
and ran for only a short while.  It replaced the A, which had only 85 
notes.  I've a feeling it's also 6'2" rather than 6"0".  You ought to 
have no trouble with it and it should come up well.

One small detail about Bechsteins of this period.  The Herrburger 
damper action has the damper rail centred a long way from the damper 
bodies, so there is a lot of friction between the felts and the rail. 
Already the Bechstein forte pedal is clunky because of a high 
leverage, so I reckon it's always worth modifying the damper lever 
assembly to get the rail and the bodies concentric.

Choose hammers carefully with the extreme treble in mind and spend 
plenty of time getting the top just right.  The top has a tendency to 
scream if you're not careful.

JD

PS.  Terry, could you please avoid quoting the whole of other 
people's messages when you reply.  It can turn a three line message 
into 9 or 10K.