Backcheck height

[Richard Brekne]

David Love wrote:

> Why do you have to replace the backchecks in order to lower them?  Just tap
> them down.

Well... grin... course you gots to make sure the wires arent already buried as
deep in the key and backcheck as possible already... but otherwise... correcto
!!... tap them, press them, or screw'em in there a bit deeper as it were.


> The backcheck being to  high won't in and of itself create
> problems with low checking.  But the fact that you must move the backcheck
> away from the hammer to keep it from dragging on the tail on the way up or
> to keep it from hitting the low shoulder will.  Suggestions by Ed Foote
> were right on the money.  The radius of the tail must be 1/2 the hanging
> distance (1/2 x 5 1/8" = 2 9/16"), the low shoulder on the bulkier hammers
> may need to be trimmed away if they are too low, and the backcheck height
> will have to be set along with the angle of the check.  The angle should be
> such that you can push the hammer into the check, but  you should get
> increasing resistance as you go down.  If the angle is too acute and you
> cannot push down at all, you will get what's known as "hard checking" and
> you will feel it through the key.  If the angle is not acute enough, the
> hammer will push through the check and with hard blows you will get
> checking that is too deep.  The other problem that occurs on Steinway
> hammers is that the tails can be too short.  Check the length from center
> of the bore.  It should be 1".  Often it is not in the tenor section.  That
> will also make high checking a problem.

I asked the Steinway tech in town for the Festspill about this, and his answer
of course was very much in defence of Steinways view on the matter.... which was
more or less... "If Steinway made the tails a bit less then 1 inch long on any
given piano, then you can bet your bootie that there was a good reason for it".
I just love these highly informative type answers you get sometimes :)


>
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos@earthlink.net
>

Btw Avery... thanks for posting those two proceedures recently. Been reaallly
buzy with two festivals going on in town, so my replies are abit delayed.

Cheers

RicB

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
UiB, Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html
http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html