[pianotech] Bouncing Bostons

William Monroe bill at a440piano.net
Thu Jul 29 21:32:14 MDT 2010


Yeah,

It's not double striking like Let-off/drop bobbling.  On a firm Stacatto, I
can watch the hammer "bounce back" from what appears to be rest position -
checking really is not coming into play and neither would I see a reason to
suspect the tail shape.  Leading pattern in the keys is pretty normal 3 and
a half in the bass, tapering up evenly.  Yes, about 1/16" let-off, about
1/16" drop.  After touch was huge prior to me regulating it (key travel was
around .430" - yes, really), and the problem didn't change when the
regulation specs were changed.  There is some aftertouch, but not excessive
- some rise, but certainly not back to the strings.

Ed, why do you think 1 3/4" and .400" is markedly out of the normal range?
Just curious.  I find that this amount of key travel is on the wider side,
but still workable with 1 3/4" blow in a lot of actions.  Didn't get to
measure the action ratio or strike weights.

William R. Monroe



On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 9:20 PM, Ed Foote <a440a at aol.com> wrote:

>
>  William Monroe wrote:
>
> > Hi List,
>
> >
>
> > Anyone know of anything chronic in Boston Grands (GP178) that has the
>
> > hammer double striking on a quick/firm staccato blow?  I've got one
>
> > that does.  Anyone have any ideas/solutions?  The piano is finely
>
> > regulated otherwise (just today, in fact).  1 3/4" blow, about .400"
>
> > Key Travel, Checking about 1/2", Rep springs are definitely NOT
>
> > jumpy.  In all other ways, the action plays nicely, controllably.  And
>
> > that is no mean feat.  I took some DW/UW measures today out of
>
> > curiousity, and they were haywire.  DW range from 62g - 46g, UW from
>
> > 18g to 35g or so.
>
> >
>
> > My thoughts are turning to action pinning (haven't checked yet).  Key
>
> > Bushings and pins are clean and lubed (teflon), but that's as far as
>
> > we got.  Wondering if tight pinning (of any parts) might contribute to
>
> > this rebounding back into the strings - and it is a full rebound.  You
>
> > can watch the hammer appear to bounce off the rest rail, though I'm
>
> > not convinced that is exactly what is happening.  Kind of musing aloud
>
> > here..............
>
> Double striking?  That usually is a let-off problem, however, on a staccato blow?   I am not sure. Do we assume a1/16" let-off with a
>
> normal drop?  What about after-touch.?
>
>  On a simply firm blow, this could be  a checking problem, so examine the tail radius and finish as well as the back-check angle. However,
>
> a staccato blow, checking doesn't enter into the equation.
>
>     Your measurements seem to indicate that there is a pinning problem, but I don't readily see a connection.  I can imagine if the rep
>
> pinning was extraordinarily tight, the springs would be way too strong, thus making the hammer's behaviour odd.
>
>     . If the keys are overly  heavy, that can contribute, but in a cookie cutter piano like the Bostons, I wouldn't
>
> start with the keys.  The combination of blow with dip is strange, I would assume that there is a really low action ratio, or really heavy
>
> hammers.
>
> I think we could use some more info.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Ed Foote RPT
> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
>
>
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