Hello and (sadly) Later, Anton: you rote, 4/2/96: <<Almost half of the instruments I see have black keys that go too deep. This creates a serious problem, for we must hit the keys very hard much of the time.>> You certainly caught me on this. Actually the source of this problem is interesting. As we all know, the sharps need a deeper dip than the naturals, so that their shorter lever arms can deliver to same lift at the capstan as the naturals. Presumably what the sharps will need for dip is a function of the naturals dip, but it's also a function of the key ratio (between the balancehole/fingerpoint arm and the balancehole/capstan arm) for that action. Keyboard ratios will be what they will (especially with NY Steinways), and natural dips will be what the tooner or technician thinks they should be. (I'm still cleaning of after two tooners around here who think the an action delivers more power with a 7/16" dip.) You might think that a sharp dip could be set for any depth of natural dip. However, there's a ceiling: the heigth of the ebony sharp piece sitting on the sharp key stick. No pianist's fingers like too high a climb from the level of the naturals to that of the sharps. And in the unlikely event that a pianist will let you set it upwards from the usual maximum 1/2", you'll soon run into a.) sharps sticking out of the keyboard like teeth in badly recessed guns, b.) a choice of rehanging the fallboard higher or notching the nameboard felt and/or fallboard, and c.) a similar dismal choice at the shipping rail just behind the fallboard. So you can see why when a regulator has gotten himself in the predicament of needing extra sharp dip, he'll secure not by raising the level of the sharps but by dropping their dip. How does a well-meaning and otherwise compentent tech find him/herself in that predicament? Well, if they really think that extra dip (or even extra blow) equals extra power, then they deserve whatever hair loss occurs trying to get proper dip *and* proper sharp height at that dip. But it'll also happen when the cap line gets moved forward either by a factory who should have admitted long ago that their sister factory in Hamburg knows how to hang an action correctly, or by a tech resetting the strike balance ratio to carry a heavier set of hammers. How to tell which situation is asking for more dip than the conventional 1/2" sharp height will allow. Given a deep dip, if the blow is >2", it's the work of Dr. DeeperisBetter. If the dip as should be (say, 1-3/4 or 1-7/8) then something about the way the action is hung is requiring the extra dip. You rote: <<I subscribed to this list a few weeks ago, am impressed by the way you are helping each other. I am sure that this type of interchange will be very helpful for many of you. However, I am going to unsubscribe at the end of this week, for the volume of mail is prohibitive, >> We'd be glad to forward to you posts which we think you'd be interesetd in. Feel free to send in your ideas. See you this summer. Bill Ballard RPT NH Chapter PTG Piano Trivia: How much does Steinway's 19th brass capstan screw add to the balance weigtht? 4.2g
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC