S&S's 5.125" is what the factory calls for but when that "B" was made the master technician hung them at what he found to be the best location for that action/piano combination. There is but one way to find the optimum location: sound. Get a set of light weight hammers like Abel, Isaac, Renner or Ronson and have them bored at 1 mm more than the difference from the keybed -hammer center pin and keybed-string underside. With the action and case parts in place check the alignment of the action, keys, key slip and fall board. Hand the first and last hammers of the top section and move the action in and out until you find the optimum location and relocate the two hammers until the get the best, cleanest, loudest sound possible _with the action in it's optimum location_. Double, triple and quadruple check the hammers location, center pin to center line, center line at 90 degrees to the shank (careful of tapered shanks) (true for most pianos except M&H, Bechstein and a few others) and that the hammer is perfectly parallel to it's flight line. Do NOT remove the hammer from this perfect alignment but use thin CA glue to secure it in place. Spray some accelerator onto the flange side of the hammer and glue on from the other side. Install #2 hammer to match it's neighbors and glue the rest in between those three samples. If you suspect hanky-panky from previous installations then go for the 5.125" on all three but change them according to the plan above. Not rocket science but does take some time and es, ultimately, worth the time spent to get the best results. Also, don't use the old shanks but match the new ones carefully for knuckle size and location. Newton Ken Jankura wrote: > > List, > I'm trying to do justice to a 1901 'B', and am wondering about the > measurement from the hammer flange center pin to the center of the hammer > molding. I've heard that the length, in the best of all possible worlds, > should be 5-1/8 inches. The actual measurement on this one is 5 to 5-1/16 > inches. How sacrosanct is the theoretical? I can move the keyframe forward, > even if I have to plane down the keyslip a little to make more room so I > can hang hammers at 5-1/8. Does anyone do this as a matter of course to > 'correct' this situation? I'm having a new keyboard made, and this would > allow for longer sharps to be fitted, an added benefit. > Ken Jankura, RPT > Newburg, PA > >
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