Soft pedal spring

Horace Greeley hgreeley@leland.Stanford.EDU
Wed, 12 Mar 1997 20:49:20 -0800


JON!

Spoilsport!

Aren't the strings supposed to buzz on the v-bar?

Seriously, though, folks - Jon has hit on something, pedal geometry.

Before messing with the spring (on any piano) it's probably appropriate to
check and
be sure that the trapwork is functioning _properly_.  In most pianos (newer
ones, anyway)
this means just checking for freedom of movement, broken parts (did
somebody manage to drive
that nasty capstan that's supposed to limit travel all the way to
Cleveland?), etc.
On other instruments, there are places which may have opposing involuted
curves.
If these actions are worn/misinstalled/etc, and the curves "overcenter"
each other,
the leverage then works against you and not for you.  (Check out Chris
Robinson's action
seminars.)

"OK, wise guy", I hear you saying - "and just how do I check for that?"

With everything in place, (properly) tightened, get under the piano and
_slowly_
work the pedals, and then the trapwork separately.  If you
see/feel/otherwise notice
points in the travel of the mechanism where things seem to either bind, or
slowdown/speedup,
chances are you have a geometry problem.  A few moments spent in this kind
of diagnostics
can save an ocean of trouble later.

It does, however, sound like this is not the problem for Marcel.

More meanderings of a demented mind...

Best.

Horace




At 11:26 PM 3/12/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Marcel,
>Don't be alarmed when the knock returns seasonally in the keyframe and the
>action stays shifted in the summer and the spring keeps squeeking and the
>treble may be a little nazally and the strings buzz on the v-bar and the
>finish starts to flake off the edges.
>
>Jon Page
>Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
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>
>
>
Horace Greeley

Stanford University
email: hgreeley@leland.stanford.edu
voice mail: 415.725.9062
LiNCS help line: 415.725.4627




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