I am at a loss what to do to avoid this other than to change hammer alignment and shift parameters so that all strings are always struck by all hammers. I am beginning to suspect this may be a major reason why the Steinway basement guys decided to make that change to their standard procedure. While I like to have the two string tonal palette available, the tradeoff of that return noise seems to wipe out the advantage.
Does anyone else have thoughts on how to resolve this issue?
Yes, something that has helped on problem pianos:
I space the hammers so that on full una corda, the left edge of the hammer is even with the outside edge of the left-hand wire. Then, very lightly, file the left side of the crown so that on una corda, even though all three strings are being struck, the left hand one is only very lightly contacting the hammer. Just enough so that all strings are vibrating enough to help the wedges seat more rapidly. You get improved seating, and a usable una corda.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
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