S&S D with high strings/low action stack

[David Love]

What year is the piano?  The bore may not have been right to begin
with--wouldn't be the first time.  Check the string height, flange center
pin to key bed and bore dimension to see how far off you are.  Since the
jack /knuckle line is askew it's possible that replacement parts were put on
that don't really work that well--or that 17 mm knuckles were added to an
action originally set up for 16 mm and the original wippens were
maintained--I see that a lot.  Without replacing parts and reconfiguring,
anything you do is probably a compromise.  You might be able to get away
with increasing the spread by shimming out the wippen flanges and raising
the stack.  You'll need to do some experimenting.  

  
David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Andrew and Rebeca Anderson
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 6:44 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: S&S D with high strings/low action stack

Fellow techs,

I just finished a rough (last minute hurried) regulation on S&S D for 
the university here on the eve of a concert.  The hammers got a very 
light filing for the first time (I suspect).  They appear to be 
over-striking.  The drop screws were backed right up against the 
hammer shanks and I need more.  The angle from the jack to the 
knuckles is not great looking either (bent line to knuckle spline).

After first having bedded the center rail of the key-frame (it was 
floating) I then re-levelled the keys.  There is not a whole lot of 
extra room to the fall-board.  There is a lot of room between the 
hammer shanks and the tuning pin-block.  You can probably see where 
I'm going with this and I'm not crazy about changing checking.

I'm going back to get some actual measurements to assess the best way 
to retrieve this four-your-old piano.  They're so pleased with the 
results so far that they think they will afford to have it done 
right.  What measurements should I take to decide what remedial work 
should be done to place this action in a better relationship to the 
strings.  Indeed, what are the proper dimensions of Steinway hammers 
(maybe someone hacked these down too much) and usual bore distances?

Andrew Anderson