Depowering a Piano

[Joseph Garrett]

Terry,
As a last resort, try putting some of those screw-on key leads. They will
make the piano play like a truck, but a "pounder" won't lighten up, no
matter what. The nice thing is, they are removable, with not much effort.
Takes less time than getting the regulation back to normal when the
"pounder" fades into the furniture. I usually set let-off at 1/4" to 3/8";
blow at 1 1/2" ; Dip at 5/16" and checking at the appropriate line for these
specs. Also, if hard hammers w/grooves, surface and soften. Some times, even
all that, will not get rid of the breaking string problem with a pounder.
It's not really how hard they play, but the rhythm of the repetitions that
cause a lot of that. Also the style of key attack. I had the pleasure of
knowing a good jazz pianist that would always go check the club piano out a
few days before his gig. If he felt the piano needed work/tuning/whatever,
he'd talk to the club owner/manager, once. Then, if that fell on deaf ears,
he'd sit down and intentionally break a few strings and tell the club to get
it fixed!<G> He could break strings at will. How he did it, I don't have a
clue. On his own Steinway B, it had all of it's original strings.
Happy New Year to All,
Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
Captain, Tool Police
Squares Are I