poor sustain

[Barbara Richmond]

Ed,

Did you actually time the sustain of the plucked strings?  Check the pinning
of the hammer flanges, check the regulation.  Try moving the action in and
out a bit to see if the tone improves.  Needling on the shoulders (lower for
sustain, a little higher for bloom) should open it up.  Are the shanks
tapered in the section?  You can test to see if hammer weight is a problem
by taking a (or more) hammer assembly from a higher note and trying it the
section.

Have fun.

Barbara Richmond


> From: Ed Carwithen
> Sent: June 15, 2005 8:51 PM
> To: PTG Pianotech
> Subject: poor sustain


> the piano is a Kimball 6'8" Grand.  It's in pretty good shape, and holds a
> tune well.  The problem is the treble sustain...there isn't any.  Bass and
> middle registers are fine, but the 6th octave has almost no sustain.  When
> the strings are plucked they do seem to be normal, but the hammers just
> don't produce the tone I think it should have.  This makes it a voicing
> problem IMO.  So...how do I approach it??

Ed Carwithen
John Day, OR