brightness of Steinways

[David Love]

You need to level the strings before you fit the hammers.  If you fit the 
hammers and the strings are not level then when you use the una corda pedal 
the hammer may no longer fit the two strings it should be contacting.  To 
level the strings I use a small 6" ruler that is narrow enough to only 
encompass one set of unisons.  Set the ruler leaning over so it contacts the 
left hand unison.  As you pluck the right hand unison roll the ruler slowly 
over until you can hear it contact the string you are plucking.  Hold the 
ruler very still and pluck all three strings and see of they are contacting 
the flat edge of the ruler.  If one string is lower than the others it will 
be open and not buzz against the ruler.  (you can also purchase brass cubes 
that are designed for setting on the string).  Take a string hook and pull 
the low string up gently near the agraffe (or the V bar).  It doesn't take 
much.  Then test again.  Though it is nice to have the strings precisely 
parallel to the floor, it is not absolutely necessary.  It is only important 
that the top of the hammer is on the same plane as the strings.  Once you 
have leveled the strings you can then fit the hammers by blocking them up 
against the string by pushing up on the jack tender (the most accurate) or 
using a spring hook to lift the hammer to the strings.  (You will notice 
that if the let-off is adjusted to low that you will have a hard time 
blocking the string by pushing up on the jack.)  When you block the hammers 
against the strings and pluck each of the unisons, they should each be muted 
by the hammer.  If one of the strings is open then that side of the hammer 
is too low and you will have to file the high side.  Be sure you maintain 
the overall shape of the hammer when you file.  Go through and mark with 
chalk on the keys which sides of the hammer are too high (make up your own 
code).

Note:  Be sure that the cheek blocks are in when you do your testing so that 
the action will be in the same place when you put it all back together.  
There is another trick for blocking the hammers.  Take a thin strip of 
fabric and place it on top of jacks underneath the knuckle along an entire 
section.  Be sure that the hammers are not raised so much that they will 
catch on the stretcher or the underside of the pinblock.  Slide the action 
back in carefully as this will raise the hammer line and you don't want to 
snap off any hammers.  Now when you push down on the keys the hammers will 
block against the strings and you can go through easily without having to 
deal with presssing up on the jack, which is sometimes awkward, or lifting 
with a string hook, which is sometimes inaccurate.

David Love


>From: ILEENKM@AOL.COM
>Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
>To: pianotech@ptg.org
>Subject: Re: brightness of Steinways
>Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 18:25:35 EST
>
>Hello:   I have a question that is right along these lines.  this week I
>tuned a newly rebuilt (not by me)Knabe grand with  Abel (Sp?)  hammers- the
>piano is in a church- the  pianist  thinks it is too bright- it IS bright-
>however, when  I  tested the   hammer muting of all three strings on some 
>of
>the zingiest notes, it was note  correct-  my question is-  how can you
>precisely determine if it  is the  strings which are not aligned or if it 
>is
>the hammer which is not square to the strings- Ileen Kaplan RPT  Southern
>Tier  Chapter

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