good, bad grand actions

[Farrell]

Thanks Dave. That was what I was getting at. And my suspicion was that you
are right. You have partially qualified your answer by saying the prep,
alignment, regulation, etc. must be up to par with the Yamaha or Steinway
(good working Steinway, that is). In all fairness I suspect it should be
further qualified, by suggesting that the key wood needs to be of similar
quality, the keyframe needs to be there, no stripped action bracket screws,
rails of similar quality, etc., etc. Basically to make them the same you
will need to make sure everything about them is the same. At the point when
there is no difference between them, then they are the same. And I think
that actually answers my question. The difference between actions, even
though they are so, so similar, and there is not much inherently different
among them, is the cumulated effect of geometry (likely a big one - so many
aspects of that), quality/appropriateness of felt/cloth used, wood in keys
and keyframe, alignment of all parts, design/quality of rails, strippedness
of screws (big deal on cheep actions), etc., etc.

That's what I was getting at: "is there some magical, unexplainable,
somethingotherable, quality about the Bechendorfer or S&S action that
another action could never achieve." The answer is no, but you might have to
reproduce the secondary action fully with high quality parts and at a much
higher level of design and manufacture.

I can sleep now.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Nereson" <dnereson@dimensional.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2001 12:21 AM
Subject: good, bad grand actions


<I hope this doesn't sound like too goofy a question. I guess I'm asking
whether a Young Chang (or whatever generally viewed lower quality action)
can be made to play as well as any good quality action (neglecting the
difference in pianos - which I fully realize can dramatically affect the way
an action performs)?>

    Seems to me that, although the action parts in modern grands aren't
necessarily interchangeable between different actions, their geometry is
very close, that is, they don't differ all that much.  What varies is the
quality of materials,  precision of assembly, and how well they're
regulated.  On most Yamahas, for example, the parts are pretty well aligned,
jacks centered, regulating buttons straight up and down and evenly spaced,
while on some Korean pianos, they're pointing every which direction, keys
rub together, hammer tails rub the backchecks on a hard blow, etc.  But if
all these things are corrected (alignment, easing, re-pinning,
straightening, friction, balance, etc.) and the action is finely regulated,
it should play as well, at least for a while, as a more expensive piano.
The parts may wear out faster, but that wasn't the question.
    A piano teacher client of mine who has always preferred the touch of a
Steinway action asked me if there's anything inherent in the Steinway action
or anything different that makes its touch unique.  (I don't really see the
perceived "Steinway touch" as unique, except that new ones tend to have a
heavy downweight, as do many un-broken-in new pianos).  I replied, "Not
really -- the action parts are very similar to most other grands, except the
rounded balance rail -- it's how they're regulated, weighted, balanced, that
makes the difference in the touch."
    So, yes, I think a well-prepared and super-regulated Young Chang or even
Samick (?) action could be put into a Steinway or Bösendorfer (if the
hammers, strike point, etc. all lined up) and most professional players
wouldn't know the difference unless they've played only one brand of piano t
heir whole career.
    (I feel the flames already)            --David Nereson, RPT, Denver