Michael: I wrote a reply to Joe's email to me several days ago, but my ISP was down for a few days, and I deleted it. Basically, what I found was that if you regulate the sos. Rail (rubber strip) properly, it will hold those notes that are played at the time. But, since the sos.bar doesn't actually lift those dampers any further, the other dampers (and their sharpened pins) must contact the bar when they are played. I think that's why it's made of rubber. There's no way that I know of to avoid this. If the sos. Bar actually lifted the dampers further, then the rest of the notes could be played without their dampers contacting the bar. If this rubber strip were to be angled so that the damper stickers slid over it as the rail is raised, this would lift the dampers further. But then the sharpened stickers might dig in and gouge the rubber. Also, if they do dig in, and they will, the rail won't lift evenly (see below). As far as regulating the stickers, I found it necessary to install the action in the piano, and regulate them there. This regulation I found to be more difficult than regulating spoons. I used a hook made from wire to bend the stickers. The stickers must be in exactly the right spot. Any sticker which is improperly positioned will prevent the rail from moving upward. The rail hangers and the rail itself are very lightly constructed, and will lift unevenly if there is improper contact. Eventually I was able to make it work, but I wasn't able to get rid of the hard "feel" of the action with the sos. Pedal depressed. I just don't think it can be adjusted any better. If you like challenges, go for it. I hope you get paid well for your time. I did the work on store time, so for me it was just another task I needed to do. Best, Paul McCloud San Diego -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Michael Spalding Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 8:19 PM To: Pianotech Subject: Upright Sostenuto Many thanks to all who responded. Paul, I did bow out, but for my own education, for "next time", I would like to learn more about how to regulate these animals. Joe, you say "if the dampers lift at less than 1/2 the key stroke, then the tabs will not be "forced" by the sostenuto bar". But it seems to me that as long as all the dampers lift at the same point, it shouldn't matter whether it's 1/2, or 1/3, or 2/3 keystroke. I would want the sostenuto bar to lift the dampers beyond the point of initial contact, to get out of the way of the other notes dampers, but because of the way the sharpened ends of the metal wires contacted the rubber bar, I was afraid they would chew through the rubber, so it's currently set up such that the bar only holds the dampers at the height that the keys lift them. Dave, Jon, and Julia, thanks for mentioning the manufacturer's models that actually work - I hope I run into one soon so I can check out how they do it. Mike Michael Spalding spalding48@earthlink.net _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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