Aftertouch Question

[Farrell]

Hi Brian, thanks for your input.

> Is there any particular reason why you like the letoff so close?  I have
> heard of setting it that close, but most of the time, I prefer to set it
> somewhere between 1/8" and 1/16", 3/32 I like.  I've seen too many times
> where the seasons changed and had them all blocking for me to trust
setting
> them that close.

Yes there is reason (good reason? - I'm not sure!). This is my piano and my
wife is getting pretty good with some of her Beethovan & Chopin. I want to
provide and maintain a hi-performance piano for her use. Also, I want to
persue the experience of maintaining a good piano at a hi-performance level.
(If I can't keep my own piano working in top shape, how can I charge anyone
else for hi-performance work?) (And yes, I also just completed a full
regulation on a customer's old heapy-cheapy grand piano (1920s Lauter) and
my letoff is a good 1/8", drop about the same, and aftertouch does not make
the hammers block against the strings - and checking is real good at about
1/2" across the board (a bit more in bass).

"> You haven't mentioned the repetition springs.  If they're a little on the
> tight side, you will have a harder time getting the hammers to check,
> especially on a soft blow.  With the letoff / drop up so close to the
> string, it wouldn't take much of a little extra kick to get the hammer
back
> up to the string."

I'm glad you mention this. I had never heard of that effect before this
recent regulation. I had been taught that if springs are too tight the
pianist will feel an undesirable kick in the key. But as I was regulating
and having a bit of a problem with checking on light blows, I thought about
the rep springs influence on checking. I purposely went through all rep
springs and made them on the slow side - all raise the hammer after checking
confidently, but just enough to not be called lazy - I'm quite certain they
could be tighter and still be considered well-adjusted. I adjusted them on
the slow side to be SURE that they were not unnecessarily kicking the
knuckle back up. I'm quite sure the rep springs are not too tight.

"> An incomplete down stroke won't usually get the jack
> out from underneath of the knuckle and that hammer sort of bobbles back
and
> forth between the string and where the jack is sitting"

The jacks move out from under the knuckles real well. When a hammer does not
check it is the during aftertouch that the hammer is pushed back against the
string.

I think Roger Jolly may be on the right track with his comment about
regulating on the bench. I will fine tune let-off, dip, etc. in the piano
because it is hard to get that real close on the bench. BUT I hate trying to
wiggle around with the action in the piano while adjusting checking. Maybe I
need to learn to do that.

One question remains unanswered for me. SHOULD every hammer check on every
light blow every time (I realize they may not all the time even if they
SHOULD, but the question is SHOULD they).

Thanks for your thoughts Brian. You confirmed my concern about rep spring
tension and checking.

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Trout" <btrout@desupernet.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2000 11:25 PM
Subject: Re: Aftertouch Question


> Hi Terry,
>
> You're asking some pretty tough questions.
>
> Just a thought or two... they're only thoughts, so don't take them too
> seriously...
>
> Is there any particular reason why you like the letoff so close?  I have
> heard of setting it that close, but most of the time, I prefer to set it
> somewhere between 1/8" and 1/16", 3/32 I like.  I've seen too many times
> where the seasons changed and had them all blocking for me to trust
setting
> them that close.
>
> Your drop sounds fine.  1/16 is pretty standard, although true drop
settings
> are not really a function of a particular dimension as much as a matter of
> timing.  I always did have a hard time "feeling" it though.
>
> You haven't mentioned the repetition springs.  If they're a little on the
> tight side, you will have a harder time getting the hammers to check,
> especially on a soft blow.  With the letoff / drop up so close to the
> string, it wouldn't take much of a little extra kick to get the hammer
back
> up to the string.
>
> One of the problems that we have with the grand action when we try to play
> very, very softly, is that lots of times, on a very, very soft blow, we
> aren't really pressing the key all the way down.  I'm guilty of it.  No
> doubt others are too.  An incomplete down stroke won't usually get the
jack
> out from underneath of the knuckle and that hammer sort of bobbles back
and
> forth between the string and where the jack is sitting ( I said it wrong,
> but I think you'll get my drift).
>
> 10 thousandths for aftertouch sounds a little scant to me.  50 thousandths
> sounds a little heavy, but not unreasonable.  I kind of like the 35 to 40
> range myself, but this is one of those things where nobody's ever wrong
> (within limits).  Different strokes for different folks.
>
> I haven't worked on the Bostons to the level you are talking about, so I
> don't know much about their idiosyncrasies.  I'm guessing you already
looked
> at things like whether the jack is clearing the knuckle, and by how much.
>
> Regulation is one of those things where there's a sort of a window where
> everything will work.  You can change the letoff, the keydip, and the
hammer
> blow all over the place, and come up with quite a lot of different
> variations that will all be different, and still all work.  Unfortunately,
> there are usually trade-offs.
>
> There are others who are probably much better at regulation than me that
> (hopefully) will chime in.
>
> Good luck Terry.
>
> Brian Trout
> Quarryville, PA
> btrout@desupernet.net
>
>