Steinway "pinning" dilemma

[Jim Busby]

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Thanks Ric.
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Steinway's standard used to be "less than 4 grams" but seems to have
changed. Now it's not one of grams or swings but "as close to zero
friction as possible with no side play." This seems to be a recent
change and I was told that Steinway has some kind of new system to
achieve this.=20
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I did repin a few and it regulates well, but DW is now about 70.
Changing hammer weight (strike weight) and adjusting front weight, etc.
will bring it to what I want, but then I've changed their design and
essentially voided warranty.=20
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You're right about sound. It does make a difference, and their way seems
to sound great. It just seems weird, and against what I've heard for
years.
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I'll try it. I'm fairly opened minded.
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Thanks again,
Jim Busby
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-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Richard Brekne
Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2003 1:28 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: Steinway "pinning" dilemma
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 =20
Jim Busby wrote:=20
	List,=20
	I am NOT bashing here...I love Steinways, but I have a dilemma.
(BTW, I=20
	just finished prepping and tuning 12 "out of the box" 1098's and
they=20
	are indeed wonderful instruments! None of the former problems.)=20
	(Hurray!)=20
	Here is a new question concerning pinning on the 8 new grands I
have. (2=20
	D's, 3 B's, 2 M's, and an S.) Hammer flange pinning is around
1-2 grams!=20
	(From 20 to 37 swings) I was ready to repin, since they simply
don't=20
	check without roughing the tails (which I believe shouldn't be
the=20
	solution) Steinway says that they have a new flange design to
try to=20
	"totally", as far as possible, reduce friction there. They
advertise it=20
	as "permafree" (scary) because of the Teflon impregnated into
the=20
	bushing cloth. They say that as long as there is no side play 37
swings=20
	is OK. But is it???=20
	=20
Hmm... assuming the hammers follow a solid path towards the string, even
in hard play... it should be ok.... aside from the general discussion
about whether or not a certain amount of friction is a good thing. That
said...  seems like an awwwwwfull lot of swings... 25 +.... hard to
imagine thats not because of overly loose pins. I get quite an
improvement with useing teflon powder in bushings... and have
experienced solid pinning at 12 swings or so on occasion... but thats
not any where near what you are describing.=20
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You can make the action work by making sure rep. spring is not too=20
strong and by periodically roughing the tails, but conventional wisdom=20
says we need proper friction in the right places to make an action feel=20
and work correctly. Right?? Any thoughts on this?
I like a certain amount of friction... 10 grams or so seems very
comfortable... but then I'm rather conservative with actions. Friction
can serve as a brake... keeps the fly away hammer syndrom from getting
to carried away. Tho admitedly... my call on this is pretty subjective
in nature.=20
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Since they are under warranty I will do as I was taught at Steinway, but

my gut feeling is to repin the rail, lighten the hammers, etc. to=20
achieve proper touchweight, and spend the next ten years working on=20
pianos that feel "right" to me.
Would be interested in hearing a follow up on these <<permafree>>
bushings... what you think of them as you go through changing and
servicing them over the next few months.=20
 =20
I've consulted with 2 other techs who are top notch by any standard and=20
they totally agree with me. However, two Steinway techs say their system

works. How do I justify the two seemingly opposing systems and make the=20
pianos work to my standards without bucking Steinway? Have any of you=20
faced this yet?=20
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Steinways official line is that these should exhibit 10 - 35 swings
??... let them go for a while if that be... and see how well they
perform... change one or two if you think its the right thing to do and
compare. Loose pins cause sloppy sound... weak and falsy... you know it
when you hear it.=20
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Thanks,=20
Jim Busby RPT=20
BYU=20
<https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives> =20
--=20
Richard Brekne=20
RPT, N.P.T.F.=20
UiB, Bergen, Norway=20
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no=20
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html=20
http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html=20
=20

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