$higeru Kawai regulation

[A440A@AOL.COM]

<<I think I cracked the nut...

  Hmm,  I dunno, I still feel ok....

>> I am still studying your sugestion that playing off the rep lever is
possible. Yes, I am sure without a jack the piano will play...
    But, with a jack, and with a typical regulation as far as drop and
let-off timing goes, I think in a repeated note, or the first blow, that the
rep lever cannot be released low enough to fire the hammer, without the help
of the jack.  I tried on two field grands to play 'off the rep lever', and
was not able to do so. I had to release the key so as to get the jack back
under the knuckle, in order to fire the key. Again, we are talking about
shallow, and/or low volosity, repeated, slow or fast  ppp playing.<< 

        Ah, I may have not been clear in the previous post.  I was addressing 
only the forces encountered during escapement, and not any sort of repetition 
imperatives.  The example of the balancier being able to play the note, 
albeit softly,  was only given as evidence that even with the jack in place, 
the softest playing will be facilitated when the balancier shares the 
impelling duties.  I am only focussing here on the tactile sensations 
involved with "touch" at the ppp level of play.  (*$ below). 
    The movement of graphited wood against leather happens twixt jack and 
knuckle as well as balancier and knuckle, but the amount of relative movement 
is far greater for the jack.  That is why I like a balancier to stay with the 
knuckle all the way through let-off. (not sure if my reasoning is becoming 
more obtuse or not..) 


>>I got to thinking, after reading your post, that this procedure is
related to a repeated note, and not the 'first' blow.  So, the spring
tension must be fairly stout, yes? And the pinning at the rep lever
snug...and the drop late-ish, and let-off close, and the hammer flange
pinning not too tight...
How do you set up an action so I can try and duplicate this?

   Not sure I understand the question, but will try to address it.  The 
spring tension must be postive, which means it will not only hold the hammer 
still when released from check, but will move it upwards.  I want it to move 
as fast as possible without feeling the movement inthe key.  This seems to be 
slower than many  other techs, I know, but it works for me.  
    The pinning, when loose, makes the spring setting difficult.  Friction  
acts as a damping agent, desensitising the spring results,  which makes our 
work easier.  "Drop late-ish, and the let-off close" isn't far off the 
description.  In a typical concert setting, middle C lets off about .5 mm and 
the hammer is held at that position on its drop setting with full key 
depression.  
   Setting things this close requires a sense of touch on the techs part, 
("Touching on a tech's part?(!) no, no, not that way).  A VERY firm pressure 
on the key may actually cause contact between the hammer at drop, and the 
string, however, this is so unlikely an actual performance occurance, I don't 
worry about it. On less demanding situations the distance can be increased 
for ease of maintenance, but the let-off and drop are still set to be one and 
the same. 
 
>>Could these pianists who claim to be playing off the rep lever, actually
be "bumping" the hammer up, off of the jack top?  In other words, the key
energy is cut off short,and the jack does not go through let-off?<< 

    I am not sure about what pianists are claiming this. (I don't think that 
was from me).  Bob Davis addressed something like this for me at Reno, 
explaining that he had pianists that like a firm bump right there at the 
beginning of escapement, as it gave them a threshhold point from which to 
"play within the key".  For this reason, a stronger spring was part of the 
regulation.   Bob,  you might clarify this, if you are reading. 

(*) now, for the money part:  

    Some of my most profitable time is spent on the regulating bench.  
Garnering those jobs has become an area of interest to me, so I have found 
ways of selling the jobs that keeps the customer relaxed.  Trusting me to 
know more than they is all part of it.  How to win their confidence?  The 
easiest way to do this is through discussion of sensitivity at pianissimo 
play.  
   Any poorly regulated action will compromise the sensitivity first.  If I 
am meeting a customer for the first time, the will usually ask me what I 
think of the piano.  If it needs regulation,  I will tell them straight off 
that it is difficult to play softly, with control.  They ALWAYS agree with 
me, and after that, things become a very easy sell. Simply regulating three 
notes, under the right hand, is usually all it takes for them to be 
requesting everything be set like that.  
  It helps to sympathise with them for trying to play sensitively on an 
instrument that isn't capable of offering that. The idea is to get that 
action on the bench, get that customer re-energized to play more piano, get 
that check in your wallet, and get home knowing that you have made money 
making people happy.  
   On the next visit, they will remark how much  difference the regulation 
made, and then you can ask them if they are ready for an equally profound 
change in the harmony of their instrument.  You begin speaking of key 
character and "Victorian" anything and they will go there with you......  
   Customers have told me that the move to a non-et tuning was just as big an 
improvement as the regulation had been.   There HAS to be more than smoke and 
mirrors involved here. 
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT