Old German Piano

[Farrell]

Oh good gravy - what is a lockrail? Have you measured the touchweight with the action in? I would certainly start there. I have removed/added leads on grand pianos following some of David Stanwood's articles. But like I say, I have not found any good info on leading upright keys. I have adjusted the touchweight on uprights, but only by adjusting the hammer butt springs and/or the damper springs. I have a Bechstein grand that I own, and it does not have any  significant touchweight problems.

Where is that hidden authority on leading upright keys and setting touchweight?

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Martin" <smartin@dodo.com.au>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 10:23 PM
Subject: Re: Old German Piano


Hi Terry

thanks for getting back! As we'd say, "She'll be right, mate!" I'm not sure but I think from posts I've read that we Aussies say setoff and you guys say "letoff". If we say letoff it normally means that one has bad gas - or so to speak!! ( not that I'd know anything about that!)
I was taught for height, to measure from the lockrail, hence the 20mm key height etc.

Terry, the basic thing was touch weight! The keys without the weight of the action feel almost too heavy and was wondering if removing the weights would even slightly lessen the touch weight? Have you ever done this? Everything else to me seems to be OK and fairly standard. Do you know if this is a common German piano problem? Most old American pianos that we have floating around don't have weighted keys!

Thanks again,

Steve.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: Old German Piano


> Oops! Please accept my appologies Steve. For whatever reason, I thought this might be just a one time project for you. My mistake. If that were the case, I just couldn't even imagine trying to get into touchweight, etc.
> 
> So, now that I blew that, what was your question? I think you asked about touchweight and removing leads. I have asked about vertical touchweight and don't think I have ever gotten or found or read a good treatment of it.
> 
> "Key height 20mm. drop 10.5mm, blow 47mm, setoff 3mm...."
> 
> How are you measuring key height? That is normally measured from the keybed and would most often be in the 60 mm range. What is drop on a vertical? Blow 47 mm - OK - if that works - could go even a tad shorter if that would work better. Setoff 3 mm - I assume you are speaking of let-off. I even sneak it in a bit closer often.
> 
> What were your questions? Did you get them answered?
> 
> Sorry again.
> 
> Terry Farrell
>   
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steve Martin" <smartin@dodo.com.au>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 2:48 PM
> Subject: Re: Old German Piano
> 
> 
> Terry
> 
> yes Iam a piano tech! I completed an apprenticeship and have worked in the industry for sometime. I'm aware of the reams of material out there on all different subjects piano wise. 
> Terry were you in on the " Newbies" thread sometime ago? It was refreshing to read one part  in which a tech wrote that we were all newbies to one degree or another. I can't recall who it was - doesn't really matter. This person thought that the term ought to be dropped and that we should just get on with the business of asking questions!
> 
> You wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> -----Are you a piano technician? You have basically asked how to regulate and weigh off an upright piano. There are entire books and courses dedicated to just these procedures.......
> In the original post what I was asking was about key weight and whether anyone could advise on any possible regulation other than standard, which I'd already completed.
> I asked mainly seeking some advice on whether anyone would have regulated a little differently. Perhaps someone has knowledge on the finer points of German pianos?!
> Here is what I wrote:
> 
> "The job was fairly basic. New dampers, tapes, etc. I regulated it to what I thought was a fair standard. Key height 20mm. drop 10.5mm, blow 47mm, setoff 3mm, dampers begin the travel half way thru' the blow, Key mortices are OK. "
> 
> Steve Martin.
> 
> P.S. Local experts are thousands of kilometers away from here, and even then I'm not sure about how many of them I'd trust.
> 
> Have a great day!!
> 
> 
> 
>  Original Message ----- 
> From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:56 PM
> Subject: Re: Old German Piano
> 
> 
> > Steve:
> > 
> > Are you a piano technician? You have basically asked how to regulate and weigh off an upright piano. There are entire books and courses dedicated to just these procedures.
> > 
> > I certainly don't mean to discourage you from working on pianos and asking about them, but I would recommend attending classes at regional and National PTG conferences to learn about these procedures. Have you done that? Do you have Reblitz? Solving a touchweight problem is something that can baffle even a experienced piano technician veteran. You might want to at least get a local expert to spend a few hours in consultation with you.
> > 
> > Just some thoughts.
> > 
> > Terry Farrell
> >   
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Steve Martin" <smartin@dodo.com.au>
> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> > Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 11:48 PM
> > Subject: Old German Piano
> > 
> > 
> > Robert
> > 
> > A German upright (UR) piano. Sorry about the spelling!!
> > 
> > I would appreciate any serious comments.
> > 
> > Steve Martin.
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>