37 steps---delayed response

[Israel Stein]

At 11:00 AM 2/8/2008, pianotech-request at ptg.org wrote:
>Israel,
>
>Obviously, a short email message can't convey your approach and no 
>offense, but I don't
>get how this is a clearer and less potentially misleading conceptual 
>framework.    In your class you would have to list your stages and 
>all that is included in each stage, right?
>   Certainly things have to be done in the right order.   You don't 
> align hammers to strings without tightening action screws, 
> etc.   Surely, you have class handout?
>
>David Ilvedson, RPT
>Pacifica, CA  94044

Actually, David, wrong on all counts. No handouts, no sheets, no 
lists in my classes. They learn by doing - you get an action model 
and you learn how to regulate by regulating. I give them a short 
verbal introduction  What typically happens is that I explain to them 
the various stages - and most everyone (except for the rawest 
beginners - the class is not aimed at them)  can right away tell me 
themselves what functions are dealt with in each stage. It's just 
logic - don't need a list. After that they dive right in, sink or 
swim. With plenty one-on-one coaching and occasional short 
discussions of what was done, how and why it works or doesn't... And 
they learn to see whether or not something was done from the results 
- not from checking an item off on a sheet. That's what I keep trying 
to tell you - the action itself can tell you what needs to be done 
when.  I just show them where to look and how to read analyze the 
relevant information.

As far as tightening screws, I did not include that stage in my 
"Regulation" concept because I feel that all that is "pre-regulation 
repairs". The action has to be in good repair before you can regulate 
it - screws tight, center pin friction correct, stripped screws 
repaired, lubrication points lubricated, keys eased, broken parts 
replaced, rep springs cleaned, keypins and capstans 
polished,  etcetera (see my reply to Roger Jolly). If you want to 
conceive of it as the first stage of regulation - fine. But 
conceptually it is once again a totally different beast from aligning 
parts, or working out specs, requiring a different mindset and 
approach. Anything broken or worn or loose or tight or dirty? Fix it. 
There's lots of truth in Cy Schuster's little joke about the "very 
first step" - tightening screws has more to do with fixing and 
cleaning than with regulating.

If you toss away your linear thinking and really get into this 
scheme, you will see that within each stage, the precise order of the 
individual steps is not all that crucial - you are going to have to 
go back and forth somewhere, it's a circle - not a line... From the 
messages posted by the likes of David Andersen and Roger Jolly it's 
obvious that different circumstances require different orders - they 
are determined empirically, by observation. I try to teach the 
students what to observe and how to go from there... And where the 
exact order is important - well, it's pretty obvious. Any idiot can 
understand and remember that you can't set key level before bedding 
the keyframe. Don't need a list for that... But does it really matter 
whether you level the keys first or space the hammers to strings 
first? Has more to do with how your shop is set up and whether or not 
you use lead weights or transfer jigs than with anything else...

The point of this conceptual organization is that students deal with 
a small number of function in each stage, thoroughly learn the 
relationship between these functions and how they affect each other 
and are then able to erect their own order of regulation suited to 
each particular situation they encounter. And the relationship 
between the stages is just common sense logic. So who needs a list 
and a pre-determined order of steps?

Israel Stein