Aftertouch Question

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Terry, 
             If the action frame is the soft wood type( not  familiar with
Boston's), there is Lot of flexibility in the frame. Bench reg to piano
rarely works.  The key bedding is critical when you are working at those
tolerences, so the regulation has to be done in the piano.
When you say it check's out of the piano, I'm assuming you are using a
regulation rack, if not, the hammer is travelling higher than the string line.
Regards Roger


At 10:02 PM 25/05/00 -0400, you wrote:
>OK grand regulation techies, here you go! Two related questions about
>checking and aftertouch.
>
>I just did a full regulation on my Boston GP178 (5' 10" grand). I set blow
>dist. @ 1-3/4", let-off as close as possible (about 1/32"), and drop (as
>recommended by Steinway) as short as possible - about 1/16" or maybe a tad
>more - but less than 1/8". I have my checking up nice and high - about 3/8"
>over the treble & up, about 7/16" in tenor, and about 1/2" in bass. Key dip
>is about 0.45".
>
>Out of the piano, all hammers check on even the softest blow (I roughed-up
>the tails a tad). When I put the piano in the instrument, I often get a few
>hammers that will not check on a light blow. And of course, because I have
>the let-off so close and drop so little, the hammer rises up and
>blocks/bobbles on the string when pressing the key through aftertouch.
>
>Question #1: Should ALL hammers ALWAYS go into check, even on a very, very
>LIGHT BLOW?
>
>If answer to Question #1 is yes, then Question #2 is: Why do all hammers
>check out of the piano but not when action is in piano (keep in mind, I am
>talking about very soft blows).
>
>If answer to Question #1 is no, then Question #2 is: If it is normal for
>hammers to occassionally not check on a very soft blow, when let-off and
>drop are real small, is it really feasable to make aftertouch the necessary
>10 thousandths of an inch (or there abouts - perhaps even less). Because if
>aftertouch is any greater, the hammer will simply rise up into the string
>and mute it in a very nasty manner. I like alot of aftertouch - generally in
>the ballpark of 50 thousandths or so. I can't do that unless I am sure that
>all hammers will check every time a key is struck - even when struck VERY
>LIGHTLY.
>
>Any good input for me?
>
>Terry Farrell
>Piano Tuning & Service
>Tampa, Florida
>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
> 
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505