Hello Listers, Some time ago (you know, as time goes by...) we had an interesting discussion about some trouble I had with a Steinway model A. Just to remind you all (y'all) what the problem was with the instrument: The sound in the third string section, counted from left to right (octave c''to about e''') was very very bad. I was called in by a piano dealer (not a Steinway dealer) because he had installed new original Steinway hammers and he wanted me to regulate and voice the grand. At first, I noticed that the hammerline of the brand new hammers was not correct at all, so I started doing hammer travel and spacing, followed by a correction of the hammershanks in the treble to the desired length, and this took me some time as you understand (...so glad somebody finally understands). After having done this, I took a long time for regulation, tuning and first voicing. By then it was about 4 in the afternoon and I began to worry about that particular trouble section in the treble....my treble was in trouble!! Actually, this Steinway A now had a pretty good touch and it sounded pretty good too! except for that one section. At that moment on that afternoon, I was tired and a bit unhappy..as you can imagine. I told the owner of the shop that I was not trough with this one, and that I would ask around. Which I did, because I put my problem before you guys and gals, and I received some really good answers. See..never too old to learn >(loin..my wife happens to be from NYC..haha). Anyway, shortly afterwards (that time again!), I was in the Steinway factory in Hamburg and I had quite a long discussion about this special case. I think that I now have a better understanding about why that string section sounded so bad. I learned in Hamburg that with this model A, it is often necessary to change the hammerline in that particular string section, and not just 1 mm or so, but sometimes 2 mm or even more! After having learned about this, I thought that it would be helpful to tell my colleagues on the list about it. So...if you work on an older Steinway model A (in this case, made in Hamburg), and you have a problem in the third string section, counted from left to right (octave c''to about e'''), then I hope that you will remember my tiny story. No no! thank you..that's fine! this time without charge.... Friendly greetings from : CONCERT PIANO SERVICE André Oorebeek Amsterdam, the Netherlands ‰ where MUSIC is no harm can be ‰
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