What weight shall it be?

[Bill Ballard]

At 9:39 PM -0800 12/30/02, David Love wrote:
>The pianist says she likes the current weight and doesn't want to 
>change it.  Is she responding to the balance weight or the 
>downweight?  Will she be happier with a 42 balance weight and 53 - 
>54 grams of downweight where it was once 50, or will she be happier 
>with a reduced balance weight that yields a similar downweight with 
>the increase in friction?

If she can successfully pay the piano now, with its fly-away hammers 
(more to the point, shank pinning), then I'd assume that moving to a 
12g or even 16, or God Help Us, 18g friction would be a major upset 
to her. Friction is like a break: it applies a constant drag, no 
matter which direction the parts are moving. To have that suddenly 
appear in an action would tax her whole approach to the keyboard.

Is it the (lack of) friction or the high balance weight she's 
feeling? Both would give her upward return pressure under her 
fingers. Find out if it's the high up weight she likes or the low FWs.

I'd find a way of mocking this up well in advance, so that she (and 
you) can pin-point exactly what it is which she likes about this 
action now. Added HS/SW can be mocked up, using lead wire wrapped 
around the shank. Extra FW (and thus, lower BW) can be simulated by 
temporarily gluing leads on top of the keys. As for shank friction, 
you could try repining a half octave of shanks (which are going to be 
tossed anyway).

I'd guess the current FWs are low. I'd expect that with the new 
parts, both BW and friction will jump up a significant amount.

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"
     ...........Steve Martin
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