shank length

[David C. Stanwood]

jonpage writes:

>>Has anyone reduced the shank length 3mm on a S&S to about 126mm
>>and relocated the stack further back 3mm?

Ed Foote writes:

>No, I've never done that.
>What is the reasoning for this?  It seems that you would need a 2" hammer 
>blow to use that much leverage and the hammer tails just might be hitting
the 
>ends of the whippens.  (sounds like the doorway to a nightmare,but let us 
>know what happens.....) 

Ed,

It's the other way around.. Increasing leverage means less blow distance 
needed.  I've measured several Grotrian Steinwegs of the last decade and with 
125mm shank length in the bass and 130mm in the treble.   I just checked my 
data on a 9' model. Strike Weight Ratio tapers from 5.5 in the bass to 6.0 in 
the treble.  They cut off the ends of the wippens in the bass section so that 
the tails clear the end  of the wippen. This is done in the factory.

Warm Regards,  (cold and snowing heavily here in SE Massachusetts...)

David Stanwood