David writes: <<When setting the gram resistance of on underlevers, what is the best point at which to take the measurement. The higher you lift the lever, of course, the greater the resistance, so where in the travel should the reading be taken? >> Greetings, I got them gauges, and I been to the convention classes, and I have seen better technicians than I measure each one. However, I have installed a goodly number of these kits and I don't measure the springs that way, anymore. The dampers damp, and you can't feel them in the key without trying. I turn the tray upside down, and bounce it up and down. The bass dampers on a D will usually work with sufficient underlever spring strength so that the underlever is supported by the spring when you turn the rack upside down. If you give a slight up and down bounce to the tray, the weight of the underlever is enough so that it will just barely move downward against the spring tension. I have measured this eyeballing procedure at about 15 grams in the bottom end. At the treble terminus of the spring parade, I like the spring to be able to just barely stay in contact with the underlever, and upside down, the underlever will slightly hang off the felt. Between these two indicators, it is easy to bounce the tray with one end on the bench, and tighten or loosen the springs until the assembly moves like the Radio City Rockettes. There may be a sway in the progression,(like the very bottom of the bass clearly less ready to dance, needing a stronger bounce to come off the felt), but that will be of little importance if there is evenness and no extremes. This procedure presumes that there is good pinning, traveling, alignement and spacing on the dampers and the wires. The low spring pressure will not cover up other problems, but it leaves a very transparent damper feel. Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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