<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: [CAUT] Black on Black... (Jack alignment)</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16481" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=747192903-08082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>The wealthiest technician in houston is blind. he has done
a couple programs on "tricks the blind use" and he always sets jacks by
feel. I have fixed a fair number of them by feel only, and have seemed to
have success.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=747192903-08082007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>les bartlett</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> caut-bounces@ptg.org
[mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Fred Sturm<BR><B>Sent:</B>
Tuesday, August 07, 2007 7:14 PM<BR><B>To:</B> caut<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:
[CAUT] Black on Black... (Jack alignment)<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><FONT face=Verdana>On 8/6/07 3:50 PM, "Jim Busby"
<jim_busby@byu.edu> wrote:<BR><BR></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT color=#000080><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>Hi Jon,
<BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Verdana><BR></FONT><FONT
color=#000080><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>You know, my gut feeling tells me
that this (white out) will work and solve my immediate problem. However, have
you tried the “feel” method Michael W. wrote about? I’ve used that method to
check for cheating jacks, but have never set jack position with it. I’m
wondering if this “feel” of the jack will be as accurate (or more) for touch
as the sight method. Once again, asking a simple question like this has caused
me to examine my own long-used techniques. His experience is more vast than
mine so… I’m off to experiment! <BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana><BR></FONT><FONT color=#000080><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>Regards,<BR>Jim Busby<BR></FONT></FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><FONT
face=Verdana><BR> Yes, the standard of “line it up with
the knuckle core” is more tradition than absolute, though it is a great place to
start. Lining each up visually is a near impossible job, at least to achieve
real precision. Your eye has to be very sharp, and placed precisely right and
consistently so for each and every note. That little bit of offset means that
even a slight change in angle will affect what you see, and you are having to
extrapolate a line past a gap. The jack is set in under the knuckle, and the
core doesn’t extend all the way to the leather. Quite a big gap to bridge with
the eye. And if you are adjusting each jack to the neighboring core, you aren’t
doing a custom adjustment.<BR> I have found that I get
better results by setting ends of sections, and then using a straightedge to
regulate between the ends. I make use of the scoring lines if they are present
as references. Also use those polished segments on the rep tops, in well used
actions. This method provides a very good starting
point.<BR> I am skeptical about actually regulating by
adjusting the jack so that it will cheat, then adjusting it back in so it won’t.
Why? A couple reasons. First, it is hard to be sure you are being consistent.
Same number of turns (number of degrees of turn) may not give a consistent
distance because the regulating button may not always be square to the screw.
And the “point of cheating” may not be consistent, due to leather irregularities
or to technique on the key (while testing for cheating).
<BR> I am also not sure that we want to regulate so that
there is the least possible scrape of the jack on the knuckle during escapement,
consistent with a position that doesn’t cheat. I think there is quite a bit of
effect on the feel of the action here, and that one usually will want a little
bit more than the bare minimum, to give a more “positive feel” to the pianist.
At least, some of my customers (and my own taste) have led me to think
this.<BR> I do like Michael Wathen’s method if it’s used
for finding cheating jacks. Very convenient not to have to hold your finger or
hand on each hammer. And I’ll suggest that a rapid flick motion rather than a
hard press is best to find those borderline cases. Fast as you can, but not
necessarily much force, will find them best.<BR> Me, I
like to fine adjust jack position while I am doing my last pass on drop. At that
point, I am pressing each key very slowly and controlled, feeling as the key
goes from that point of – darn, the word escapes me. Convergence comes to mind,
but I don’t think that’s right. Starts with con, though, I think. It’s the point
when drop and letoff touch simultaneously. So feeling from that point and
watching the hammer go to its highest point, then drop that little, very
consistent bit. There is a feel to this that I am looking for, that has some
resistance and bump to it, but not too much. If one note feels right and the
next one has less bump/resistance, but drop is identical, I want to adjust the
jack a bit inward under the knuckle to get the same feel. And vice versa, if
there is more bump/resistance. <BR> I think that this is
the real fine point of regulation, together with utterly consistent aftertouch.
This is where you make a piano feel wonderful. (Of course, you have to have laid
an excellent groundwork before, in all the other regulation points). This is
where our German colleagues focus a lot of attention, and I think they are right
to do so. Hold the pedal down, lightly press a handful of keys (five) with your
fingers to that point whose name I can’t remember, and then play each through to
aftertouch in turn. Very sensitively. This is where jack position comes into
play, along with consistent letoff and drop (and the relationship between them),
and aftertouch. Once you have the feel in your fingers, you can make little
adjustments to make that point more obvious, or make it almost disappear,
according to taste. There is a middle ground that I think most people will
like.<BR>Regards,<BR>Fred Sturm<BR>University of New Mexico <BR><BR></FONT><BR>
<P><FONT size=2>No virus found in this incoming message.<BR>Checked by AVG Free
Edition.<BR>Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.8/940 - Release Date:
08/06/2007 4:53 PM<BR></FONT></P></BODY></HTML>