Newbie question: Are bridle straps necessary?

[Sarah Fox]

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Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice about my Hamilton!  Unfortunately I don't have =
the piano with me at this moment.  It is in another state.  I just moved =
it to Virginia, where I spend a lot of time and had missed having a =
piano to play.  I'll eventually be selling it, as the restoration on the =
Wissner comes along.  On my last trip I tuned and did some regulation =
work (key leveling, capstan, hammer stroke, letoff, center pins tight =
and correctly situated), as well as shaping and roughly voicing the =
hammers.  This Thanksgiving I'll do another tuning, "fine-tune" the =
voicing, revisit the bridle strap issue, and adjust backchecks and =
dampers.  I will be able to try out some of your suggestions regarding =
the "bobbling" notes at that time.  (I didn't understand the jargon term =
"bobbling" until now!  I'll search the archives for that term.)

Let's see, in no particular order...

John:=20

What is "Corfam?"  I take it this is some sort of synthetic buckskin???  =
What I have is rather light in color, more so than most buckskin I've =
seen, but then again, the piano is quite clean and hasn't seen heavy =
usage.  (It belonged to a music teacher for 3 years and then to me for =
the rest of its life -- unplayed while I was off to college, played =
seldom while I was in graduate school, thereafter played less than other =
pianos I had available.)  The tips of the jacks are coated with some =
sort of green plastic (teflon?).  Does this suggest Corfam?  I'm afraid =
I don't have the time/resources/inclination to put major work into the =
Hamilton before its sale, so replacing 88 pieces of Corfam might need to =
be a job for the next owner.  I might think about replacing just the =
buckskins/Corfam that show wear.  However, the "bobbling" problem occurs =
even on notes that don't see a lot of usage.

Ken:=20

The buckskins seem in fairly good condition overall.  Some show very =
minor indentation, but all the jacks escape easily when the letoff =
button is engaged.  The bobbling occurs only on very light keystrokes =
when the wippen is not yet elevated enough to engage the letoff button, =
the butt bumps off of the end of the jack, the hammer hits the strings =
(wippen still not high enough to engage the letoff, jack still under =
butt), the hammer bounces away from the strings, and the but lands back =
on the jack, rebounding for another soft strike.

Avery:

The problem has nothing to do with movement of the hammer rail with the =
soft pedal.  When I refered to pp playing, I was referring to a soft =
stroke without the soft pedal engaged.  (I hate using the soft pedal -- =
but might grow to like it now that I have a proper UC on my grand. =
<smile>)  The overall hammer stroke is a bit high-ish at 1 7/8", but the =
letoff is also high at 1/4", which is the minimum distance that would =
eliminate the "bobbling."  These settings would preserve the same =
*power* stroke (not sure if this is a recognized piano tech term -- mean =
it in an engineering sense) of 1 5/8".  Key dip is 3/8".  I haven't =
adjusted the backchecks yet, and I don't know how they are positioned on =
the problem notes.  However, the bobbling isn't a backcheck problem, =
since it occurs before the key is fully depressed, before the jack is =
disengaged, and before the catcher would/should even fly into the =
backcheck.  I seem to have adequate aftertouch, BTW, on all the keys.  =
There aren't any jacks that fail to kick out.

Carl, Oleg, and Avery:

I didn't think to check the tightness of the bridle straps!  I look =
forward to examining that as a possible cause of my difficulties.  And =
yes, Oleg, I suspect the voicing could help too.  It's been ages since =
those hammers were voiced.  (I actually don't mind a bright sound.  It's =
just gotten a bit harsh lately.)  I did a rough round of voicing on the =
last trip and played the piano for a couple of weeks.  Now I think I'm =
ready to "fine-tune" the voicing a bit.  Anyway I suspect the hammers =
are bouncing around like ping pong balls, and a softer hammer might =
help.  Even so, this "bobbling" has been an age-old problem that has =
even frustrated the pros who have worked on my piano -- even when the =
hammers were considerably softer and to their liking.

It's also comforting to know pianos aren't always expected to conform to =
textbook specs and that a broader letoff is sometimes considered =
necessary.  Still, it would be nice to have a tighter letoff, which =
would add control at pp levels.  Hopefully tightening the bridle straps =
will achieve that for me.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

... and thanks for the encouragement, everyone! :-)

Peace,
Sarah


  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: John Ross=20
  To: Pianotech=20
  Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 9:49 AM
  Subject: Re: Newbie question: Are bridle straps necessary?


  Speaking of buckskin, some of the Hamiltons, had the dreaded Corfam. =
This should be replaced.
  Regardsm
  John M. Ross
  Windsor, Nova Scotia.
  jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
    ----- Original Message -----=20
    From: kenneth.gerler@prodigy.net=20
    To: sarah@gendernet.org=20
    Cc: pianotech@ptg.org=20
    Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 1:21 AM
    Subject: Re: Newbie question: Are bridle straps necessary?


    Sarah,
    About the regulation (hammers bouncing). Depending on where the =
Hamilton was, the hammer butt buckskin where the jack contacts the  =
hammer butt becomes worn after many years of playing.  If the regulation =
is set to specs without repairing that buckskin, there is an indentation =
in the buckskin that the jack can not escape and that causes the =
"bouncing" action. That is the reason the in can't be regulated =
properly. Look at the buckskin of a new hammer butt and compare it to =
the hammer butts in your Hamilton, you will see the wear. OR if a butt =
or two didn't have the jacks centered on the buckskin, you can see the =
ridge left on one side or the other and then you can compare how much =
wear is visible.

    Ken Gerler

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