[CAUT] Bore distances for Steinway L

[Jim Busby]

Hi Paul,

Unfortunately the plate height can vary on Steinways. I was told by the very top there that this is because it is handmade, and some variance is common. (Ha) Soooo.... I was also told that the stack may have to be raised, and have done so many times. It rarely changes the "magic line" too much, but .080 is what I raised one last week, and it worked out that all the specs are now spot-on. Brand new B, BTW. The right bore distance might give you a ½" tail (nope) so you nearly always have to suspect the stack height. All the regulation advice might not work.

What's you string height? Distance to center? It's easy to add a couple .040 punchings, put the stack back and try a couple samples. 5 minutes.

That's my 2 bits. Waiting for others to tear it apart...

Best,
Jim

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul T Williams
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 8:55 AM
To: CAUTlist
Subject: [CAUT] Bore distances for Steinway L

Hi all,

It's been years since I bored my own hammers and need a number.  What is a proper bore distance for a Steinway L (1924).  I installed some Abel Naturals last fall and the project went on hold while the piano got a new board and bridges. I just measured A-0 and it's 2-1/8".   I'm trying to regulated the action and am having a tough time for some reason.

The key level and dip is factory perfect, I've got the proper blow distance of 1.75". I can't get let off any closer than 1/4"!! The rebuild was done right and the plate is the same height as before.  I've even tried to raise the blow a bit, and still can't get it to let off correctly. The frame is perfectly bedded.  The wips are old, but in pretty good shape.  I started at A-0 and only tried 5-6 notes before writing yall.

I'm wondering what's going on.  Any thoughts of what to check next?

Paul
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