Dear Avery, Having action and, to a lesser extent, tonal problems on new Steinways due to excessive string height is not unusual; however, your explanation of the solution chosen by your local dealer's tech,i.e. shimming up the underside of the keyframe backrail, certainly is. Typically I address this issue by shimming up the feet of the stack on the filler blocks, the walnut strips of wood to which the stack is fastened. One shims up the front feet to resolve strike point and over centering issues, and one shims up the back feel as well if correct blow results in the hammershanks resting too far from the hammer rest felts on the reps. Of course, you find the upper limit for this shimming when the drop screws and hammer flange screws begin to rub the underside of the pinblock when you pull the action. My approach mostly changes the blow, let-off, and drop. The solution chosen by the dealer tech changes these adjustments, as well as key height and depth, damper lift timing with the key, keyframe bedding, and probably several aspects of action bedding and regulation. I am very perplexed. As to your basic problem of back hammer shoulders hitting and catching on the backchecks, I would certainly decrease the blow, and, if that results in excessive aftertouch, I would reduce the dip as well. Personally, at some point I would want to start all over again from scratch, perhaps even with custom bored hammers. Good luck with the festival! Charles -- Charles Ball, RPT School of Music University of Texas at Austin ckball@mail.utexas.edu
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