This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Wimblees@AOL.COM=20 To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: July 06, 2001 3:05 AM Subject: Re: Strike Point I didn't know Steinway was at 1/8th. I was under the impression that = the=20 maximum sound, especially in the last octave, was for 1/7th.=20 When I first got into the business, I got an Acrosonic with all the = hammers=20 torn out. Students at the local university got mad when the school = announced=20 a tuition increase, and they decided to destroy university property to = protest. Someone opened up the top of the piano, and raked out all the = hammers, destroying most of the buts, and some of the wips. The = university=20 gave the piano to one of the music students, who called me to "fix a = couple=20 of dead keys."=20 Since I didn't have samples to go by to replace the hammers, etc. I = called=20 Baldwin and they told me to cut the shank so that hammer strike point = for=20 note 88 was at 1/7 of the string length, and then to cut the rest of = the=20 shanks the same length. Since then I learned that most pianos are = built=20 basically the same.=20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- Wim, If someone at Baldwin told you that, they were giving you incorrect = information. No modern piano has been built using a 1/7 strike point in = the treble. It's pretty difficult to determine precisely just what ratio = is used in the treble of the piano. Consider the following: 52 mm x 1/18 =3D 2.9 mm 52 mm x 1/16 =3D 3.3 mm 52 mm x 1/14 =3D 3.7 mm 52 mm x 1/12 =3D 4.3 mm The difference between a strike point (at C-88) of 1/18--extremely = short--and 1/12--quite long--is only 1.4 mm. Now go look at the typical = hammer as found in the modern piano at C-88 and tell me you can really = determine whether the strike point is 1/17 or 1/14 or whatever. This is = one of those things that is easy to draw out on paper, but is somewhat = problematic to actually work out in practice. My own practice has been to draw the scale with a C-88 strike point of = 1/14. The action installer can easily shift the action in or out a half = mm as required to compensate for the shape--or the off-center = hardness--of the hammers. At Baldwin, the hammers were set just a bit below the V-bar--trust me, = no one ever actually measured the precise amount--and the rest of the = shanks were trimmed accordingly. If memory serves, most of the Baldwin = models ended up with a strike point of approximately 1/8 somewhere = around middle C or a bit below. I say 'approximately' because, like most = pianos, it is not altogether consistent. (Also, the Model 6000 is an = exception; it ends up with a strike point ratio of 1/5 at A-1) Regards Del ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/58/80/68/f9/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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