[pianotech] Baldwin grand repetition spings

[Douglas Gregg]

I am working on a school Baldwin 5" 8" BG from 1929 that was restored
by someone else about 5 years ago. Restored is a stretch, but they put
in a lot of new parts. New action, hammers, dampers, keycovers, bass
strings, and refinished the plate. Lots of parts but no adjustments.
No voicing or regulation was done.

I have it regulated now but the action is heavy, about 65 to 70 grams
down weight throughout. I am thinking that part of it might be due to
the repetition spring tension. This has one spring attached under the
repetition lever with the other end pushing down on the back of the
jack. To get the repetition lever to bump the hammer up slightly, it
puts quite a bit of spring pressure on the back of the jack. This
might be contributing to the heavyness. My question is if this is
likely and if there is some way around this. If I reduce the spring
pressure on the jack, it will sacrifice the repetition lever strength.
Any suggestions.

Perhaps it could be cured with a Touch Rail, but this is not a big budget job.

Doug Gregg
Classic Piano Doc