Stieff upright piano question

[Susan Kline]

At 12:19 PM 9/2/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi Group:
>
>I have just acquired a Stieff upright piano that I bought to convert to a
>pneumatic player piano, by building my own custom stack.
>
> This is an excellent piano, handles like a dream and a wonderful tone. but
>as to be expected, the cabinet doesn't have quite enough room to accommodate
>the stack.
>
>I could disable the folding lid to install the stack, but I really don't
>want to do that.
>I noticed that the keys extend 1" behind the capstans. I could gain the room
>I need by simply relocating the capstans at the very back of the key and
>sliding the keybed & keyblocks forward, and  thinning the strip of wood on
>the front.
>
>Before I do that, does anyone foresee any regulation/touch problems by
>relocating the capstans? This piano plays so nice, I really dont want to
>alter the touch, or cause any problems. Another problem it will have, is
>that the keys won't fall when the player is operated. each key has two round
>lead weights in the keys, one of them probably could be removed, but then
>again, what would that do to the touch?
>
>Just wondering
>Andy
>

Dear Andy,

While an ex-player might be _convenient_, I think your idea of using the
Stieff could give you a really classy result. Most ex-players also suffer
from having been played to death in their childhood. 

Now, are you _sure_ you can't adapt the nameboard to give room enough for
the stack? It sounds like you are really close, if you have room to narrow
the keyslip and still get it to work. Is the board hinged in the middle
("Boston fall") or one piece? Could you just immobilize the keyfall so it
doesn't fall? <g> (Take the flap off of it, etc.)

That is, could you give up the option of covering the keys in order to
preserve the touch and key leverage characteristics, which (to my mind) are
more important? 

Some others could tell you better than me, but it seems to me that if you
move the capstans to the back of the keys, the touchweight would increase.
And if you took out a weight in the rear of the key, the touchweight would
also increase. Is it considered essential for the keys to drop as the
player works?

Building your own stack, with your own design for the pneumatics!! Isn't
that about the equivalent of a doctoral thesis for player technicians? Good
luck with your project!

Susan

P.S. I want to hear it play when you are done. Maybe by then I'll have the
big computer which could handle sound clips that big.







Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com