replacing a back action on a 1909 Steinway B

[David Love]

Additionally, there's also the rigid sostenuto tabs (as opposed to hinged
and spring loaded) on the old ones that can be noisy with a certain kind of
pedal release.  Plus serviceability.  If something goes wrong with an
underlever on the old style where the levers are glued to the rail, you need
to remove the entire back action to repair it.  On the new ones, you can
simply unscrew an individual underlever and take it out.  


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 Porritt, David
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 4:01 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: RE: replacing a back action on a 1909 Steinway B

Yes, for some time (I don't recall the years) Steinway made back actions
where the damper lifters were short (these are now affectionately
referred to as the "short arm" underlevers).  That made the angles
steeper and they tended to dig into the lifter felts on the keys and
made divots.  Replacing the entire assembly is really the best course.
The other reason I've come across is simply cost.  It is frequently a
savings to replace the assembly with new well-bushed, parts than to do
the rebushing, repining etc. of the worn ones.

dave

David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of John Delacour
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 2:02 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: replacing a back action on a 1909 Steinway B

At 20:13 -0700 11/5/08, David Love wrote:

>With back actions it's best to start with something not premounted
since
>modifications are more the norm than the exception.  That puts my vote
>toward Renner.

Can someone explain why one would fit a new assembly rather than 
restore the original?

JD