[CAUT] M & H model 50

[Jim Harvey]

Aaron Bousel wrote:

> It's not bobbling with a firm blow. It's not something you would pick 
> up on while tuning, for example. It's on a softer blow, the kind when 
> the key might not completely bottom out. It's not a matter of the 
> catcher not catching, i.e. the catcher hitting the backcheck and 
> bouncing off. As I said, it works fine on a medium or hard blow, and 
> that's in spite of the fact that the catchers and butt "leathers" are 
> not buckskin but some kind of brown cloth that some of the 
> manufacturers tried back in that era. The owner does not have the 
> money to do all that could be done, though I have made her aware of that.
>
> Aaron

Aaron, while not taking away from other comments that have been made, 
your representative fix on the one key (different reply) provided 
another idea, as yet unmentioned. You might want to inspect / correct 
two things, both damper related: (1) check the damper lever spoon 
contact felt for "digging"; (2) create less (yes less) tension on the 
damper lever, instead of incrasing tension on the hammer return spring(s).

Off immediate topic but related, pianos of this era reportedly 
confronted a couple of situations that had little to do with experiments 
or cost-cutting. One was the availability and quality of raw materials, 
the other pushing production. An example of quality was buckskin. 
(Anyone remember replacement knuckles of the same era, regardless of 
supplier?) At the same time, they were under the gun to get product out 
the door just to provide market "presence), because the offshore 
products were starting to increasinly command a bigger market share. It 
all sounds contradictory, and I cannot validate these statements, but 
those were the opinons provided by insiders at the time.

Jim Harvey