<font color='black' size='2' face='Comic Sans MS, sans-serif'>Unde<font color="black" face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif" size="2">rstood.  Good being a relative term to modern pianos of the last several decades or more.  <br>  I guess the limiting factor in every age is how heavy the action is and will it give you carpal tunnel. <div> <br> </div> <div> <br> </div> <div style="clear: both;"><b><font color="indigo" size="1"><font face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"><font size="2">Dale S. Erwin<br> </font></font><font face="Comic Sans MS, sans-serif"><font size="2"><font size="1">www.Erwinspiano.com</font></font><br> <font size="1">Custom restoration<br> Ronsen Piano hammers<br> Join the Weickert felt Revolution<br> 209-577-8397</font></font><br> 209-985-0990</font><font size="1"><br> </font></b><br> <br> </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> <br> </div> <div style="font-family: arial,helvetica; font-size: 10pt; color: black;">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Fred Sturm <fssturm@unm.edu><br> To: caut@ptg.org<br> Sent: Wed, Mar 2, 2011 2:11 pm<br> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Fwd: Steinway sound-Hammer weights<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_2_fc99098d-ff38-4bac-a82f-3376a2fae04e"> <div> <div>On Mar 2, 2011, at 2:49 PM, Dale Erwin wrote:</div> <br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',sans-serif; font-size: small;">Usually I find that actions with good overall key/action ratios (ie 5.5) are sabotaged with this kind of weight</span></span></blockquote></div> <div><br> </div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I would just note that the notion of 5.5 as a "good" action ratio is a pretty modern one, last 50 years, say. If we want to talk about pianos of the late 19th and early 20th century, often with reverent terms as a benchmark to emulate, we need to remember that 6:1, 7:1, 8:1 are also "good" ratios. This is particularly true if we want to talk about the "good" felt of that time and the tone quality it produced. IOW, ratio, weight, and felt quality (density in particular) are all factors that need to be in sync with one another. (Leaving aside other concerns, like the belly design and scale, that obviously also come into play).<br> <div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div style="word-wrap: break-word;"> <div>Regards,</div> <div>Fred Sturm</div> <div>University of New Mexico</div> <div><a href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</a></div> <div><br> </div> </div> </span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div> </span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div> </span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div> <br> = </div>  </div> </font></font>