Hammer height conundrum on a '46 Hardman grand

[George Whitty]

>
Hi, Dean:

    Thanks for your insights;  everyone's take on this is definitely  
moving me toward an approach.  You might be able to give me a bit of  
advice on finding a really good tech (I hired a guy to tune my piano  
when I got it 5 months ago;  he had to raise the pitch probably an  
average of a half-step, but even freshly tuned, though he did a nice  
job on the unisons and so forth, I didn't really like the scale.).  I'm  
going to get it tuned again after I replace a number of tuning pins  
(just got my reamer today, and am replacing my #1 pins with #2's, which  
is working well so far), so I'd love to find a really good, experienced  
guy to both tune it and then pull out the action and give me the kind  
of consultation you discuss.  I've had the Reblitz book for a few  
months now, and have followed his step-wise approach to the letter,  
only getting stymied here at step 13 (I think it's 13, anyway).  Since  
I'm the "client" on my regulation, I think I'll try two different  
approaches to making this workable until I can get the hammers  
replaced, and just see which one works best for my sensibilities...

Thanks,
George



> George,
>
> The answer to your question is not as cut and dried as you would like  
> for it
> to be. You are delving into an area that took me 10 years to realize  
> there
> was more going on that I had thought. And I am still learning, as many  
> of us
> on this list are. So what you are asking us to share with you in a few  
> short
> paragraphs is something that has taken me 25 years to learn.
>
> You are wanting specifications that you can measure and adjust (don't  
> we
> all). When it comes to regulating grand piano actions, the specs  
> really only
> get us a starting place, especially when working on an old piano such  
> as
> yours where the specs you have may be suspect. It is our challenge to
> balance all of the specs in a way that will get us close let off,  
> adequate
> blow distance, good repetition speed, and, perhaps most importantly,
> sufficient after touch.
>
> With the symptoms you have described, I would probably try increasing  
> the
> blow distance to 1 7/8 or 2", making sure I could get close let off  
> and have
> sufficient after touch. Before you do this, of course, you need to  
> make sure
> your foundation is good, i.e., keyframe bedded, keys leveled, key  
> adequate
> dip.
>
> The Amazon link to the Reblitz book Ric referenced is:
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1879511037/qid=1105534210/sr=2 
> -1/ref=
> pd_ka_b_2_1/102-9681584-8821755
>
> You must purchase and read this book if you are at all serious. On my  
> first
> restoration project I had spent hundreds of dollars on a new set of  
> hammers
> and regulation. The results weren't great but I thought probably the  
> best
> that could be accomplished on a 70 year old piano. Using this book and  
> only
> tools around the house, I re-regulated my piano and couldn't believe  
> the
> difference. Having done only a little research I was able to do so much
> better than the guy faking his way through life as a piano technician  
> that
> it persuaded me to go into the business. Maybe it will you also. ;-)
>
> Blessings,
>
> Dean May