Mother goose string leveler

[David Ilvedson]

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Man, I need to take a class on this...
David I.


Original message
From: "William Ballard" 
To: Pianotech 
Received: 9/13/2005 7:39:18 PM
Subject: Re: Mother goose string leveler


At 10:13 PM -0400 9/12/05, Erwinspiano@aol.com wrote:
Anybody else discover this little Jem?


Previous to what I now do (which is nearly twenty years old), I used to=
 use one of the drill guide blocks from the upright hammer hand-boring =
jig, the half-hole one (being the thinner of the two guide blocks).


But then I noticed that getting the three strings to contact the block =
still wouldn't guarantee the same hammer-to-string contact when you wen=
t from standard keyboard position to Una Corda. The only thing worse fo=
r a UC sound than un-level strings is hardener at the strike point.


So the final step in hammer re-shaping is to confirm that the hammer st=
rike surfaces are level and square, usually with a straight edge sittin=
g on the hammer flanges, but always being certain that what you're sigh=
ting across is the strike surface instead of slightly over the hill fro=
m it (one side or the other). I'd already figured out that it doesn't t=
ake to many mils of error here to turn one string into an audibly "open=
" one, all the more so with harder felt than softer. Anyone who has run=
 across Don Mannino's "speed bumps" has noticed this.


With the hammer strike surfaces confirmed to be level and square, I che=
ck open strings, first in the standard position and then the UC for eac=
h note. If I hear open strings in the standard position, I make a menta=
l note on the beach of my brain of the exact pattern LH/C/RH and see wh=
at  happens to that pattern in the UC (remembering off course that the =
LH string is out of the picture). If the open string pattern for the C/=
RH strings stays the same, it's the strings which aren't level. If the =
C/RH string pattern equals what the LH/C pattern was, then my strike su=
rface leveling wasn't good enough. If the UC C/RH pattern bears no rese=
mblance to either the standard position LH/C or C/RH, then the level at=
 both the strings and the strike surface are out to lunch. But with goo=
d hammer re-shaping, it'll rarely be anything except the fist scenario =
(ie., the open string pattern has stayed with the strings instead of mo=
ved with the hammer).


I've noticed it is important to put the device as close to the striking=
 spot on the string for accuracy as  it is level strings at the hammer =
strike point


I noticed that too, with a dial indicator under the strings and samplin=
g the string level at various points approaching the actual strike poin=
t.


Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"When writing a mental note, first procure a mental piece of paper"
    ............mental graffitti
+++++++++++++++++++++

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