1906 Stwy wippens

Richard Brekne Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
Sat, 01 May 2004 22:59:46 +0200


Farrell wrote:

> That's why I suggested starting with a proper geometry anaysis. Then 
> using the likely new parts, analyze the geometry again with the new 
> parts. The piano this guy described is nothing new. Happens all the time.
>  
> What Dale said may well be true, but that would also incorporate the 
> assumption that the action was set up properly originally. That might 
> be a big assumption.
>  
> Terry Farrell


Agreed Terry.

It boils down to this Jason... either you do a Mercedes solution or you 
do a least incision operation.  At least thats how I always look at this 
kind of job.  Half way... or nearly anything inbetween ends up almost 
always being less then satisfactory.

Just recently ran into an older O where the techs involved (top notch 
folks) had ordered a brand new action... I mean the whole shooting 
match... new keys, new keyframe with updated placement of the balance 
rail to modern S&S Specs..  new top action frame... and all new action 
parts... and the whole thing was indexed wrong.  If you alligned the 
bass hammers to the strings then the top two sections were wayyyy the 
heck to the right.. and the middle was quite a bit right of where it 
needed to be as well.. Try and move it the other way and you have the 
bass way left. 

Ok.. these guys really know what they are doing, and will be able to 
fudge and correct and in the end they will work it out so its good. But 
they know how to do this kind of thing. And if you dont... then you want 
to make sure you have a capable tech  ready to back you up and help you 
out of any unexpecteds that come along, and there are always unexpecteds 
with complete action replacements... or nearly always.  Sure... not 
usually quite as involved... but just so.

So... what do you do ??..  How much does the customer want to pay.... 
and what do they expect as a return on their dollar ?  How nice is the 
piano in general... what condition is the sounboard and the rest of it.. 
is it worth the big bucks investment in the action  the first place ?

Its like I said... there are several opportunities here. The trick is to 
find the best one for your situation.  Since we really dont know much 
about your piano... I dont really see what else we can say besides 
generalities.

Cheers
RicB

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