The technicians in the Dallas/ Ft.Worth Texas part of the world were treated to a technical this past week, on the refinments of the Shigeru Kawai, their preimer piano line. The technician who follows a particular instrument through the facory, also goes to the new owners home to service it. I guess that is a one time deal, since all the techs are coming from Japan. Very impressive. Any other manufactures doing that? I love it when someone raises the bar. There are a couple of regulation differences that are interesting. #1-Drop is set slightly early, and #2- jack height to rep lever height is set so that there is no winking. The distance (jack height to rep lever top) is subtle, so as not to cause a hammer line wave. I beleive the reasoning for the earlier than usual drop, is that there is a smoother feel if drop and let-off are spaced slightly. Also, I beleive their thinking is, an earlier drop allows a safety net which insures a positive 'scrape' or contact by the jack, which would be reduced if the drop timing is later that the let-off timing. In other words, let the jack do it's job of lifting the hammer. Keep the spring loaded rep lever out of the picture. Dan
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