S&S D with high strings/low action stack

[Joseph Alkana]

Working within the approved Steinway recommendations, I nevertheless would 
get it in writing first and get your charges approved first.
Joseph Alkana RPT
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew and Rebeca Anderson" <anrebe at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: S&S D with high strings/low action stack


> Continuing saga:
> I spoke with a Steinway technician in the service department this morning 
> (name slips me) and have the following solution(s) recommended,
> He is sending 1/16" walnut shims cut to fit under the action feet and 
> raise the action by that much, I'll have to re-time the checking & reset 
> let-off
> he recommends buying the un-bored Steinway hammers and custom boring them 
> to take up some of the over-striking difference
> (my measurements on the existing hammers suggest that they have been 
> over-filed already by 1/8 -3/16" so my high grit polishing isn't the first 
> time this has been done.)
> We discussed string height and he gave one specification: note 66 is to be 
> 7&3/4" +/- 1/8" above the key-bed.  I pointed out that my measurements put 
> this area very close to 8".  He became a little defensive and said that 
> fixing this would require rebuilding the piano and that Steinway wasn't 
> going to do this (I had mentioned the piano was still under warranty).  I 
> then asked him about Steinway policy regarding over-striking.  He plainly 
> said that the hammers shouldn't overstrike.  Of-course they all do now by 
> significantly more than the amount they have been filed under standard 
> bore and most likely were by a significant amount when the piano was new.
> I mentioned checking and capsizing problems with too short hammer tails 
> too far above the action and he didn't have much to add other than that 
> shimming the action by 1/16 should help with the capsizing.  He couldn't 
> get me stats on the size of the un-bored hammers.  I'm guessing they are 
> the same size as the bored ones and I'm not too enthusiastic about boring 
> those much lower on the tail.  Custom hammers by another hammer maker may 
> be the better way to go, but than there is the Steinway Only politics to 
> deal with...
>
> So, my solution is drifting towards this:
> Shim the key-frame 1/16"
> Shim the action stack 1/16"
> Recommend new hammers (really this should be a warranty item too, there is 
> significant labor in this)
> This gets me a third of the way with adequate clearance at the fall-board 
> and 1/16" clearance at the pinblock with the drop screws backed all the 
> way out.  Taller hammers will drag going in and out and I'll have to watch 
> that (had a mishap on a Chinese-made piano yesterday).  By shimming both I 
> reduce the problem to the neighborhood of  1/16" so a lower bore won't be 
> so worrisome.
>
> Do any of you have more to add?
>
> Andrew Anderson, Artisan Piano
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