aftertouch

[J W Stein]

Message
Ron,

I like Tom's approach to your problem of aftertouch.  After some 30 plus years of tuning and regulating I still find that there is no science to perfection.  You can read all the tuning books and get all the rulers in the world... Bottom line for me is the result.  If everything is properly regulated and I still have little or no aftertouch in some keys, then I try minimally increasing depth of key in question...until I feel that nice aftertouch.  Obviously I don't want key depth to go much deeper than 3 / 8 but a dash more shouldn't make that much of a difference.  Sometimes you can even get away with just readjusting the depth on the one or two keys in question.  

As for sharps.....assuming that all keys are equal in terms of dimensions (particularly matching thickness of each key) then I like to make sure all keys ( the back wood part of keys just on the inside of fall board and unseen when piano is all together, sit even....and if anything the black keys should be a hair above naturals...definitely not lower.  In terms of depth, I like to make sure blacks do not go below tops of naturals...in fact, I try to get about half the thickness of a dime  above naturals when depressed. ( I use a very thin ruler as my guide)  Spark plug gauges come in hand for measurements as well.

Good luck....and remember this is my way....I do what works for me.

Jon Stein
Orange County, NY



  Ron,

              A few observations :

              Throw away the ruler-scale and keep the dip block(s)

              

              If your after touch is inconsistent on the naturals, either the dip, blow distance or letoff is inconsistent .

  I would recheck. You might have a warped rest rail.

              >From square one ,

  Establish natural key height to three criteria . 1 .Set height on C-40,D42 below the fallboard-fall strip so the top of the key has clearance and does not hit .  2. The front key pin is inside the key bushing mortise . 3. The bottom of the key front at rest is not above the top of the keyslip .Satisfy these three things and make it look "right" 

  Then set dip , blow and  letoff that results in acceptable aftertouch, You can see 1/8th or whatever letoff dimension you prefer (I wouldn't go less than 1/8th on this piano to avoid blocking hammers down the road.) 

  I then adjust sharp height-dip on c# 41 also by visual criteria. Start with height that looks correct above the natural .That is the keystick is not showing above the naturals. Set dip so the sharp is not buried below the naturals .Check the travel of the back of the key with the sharp and both naturals on either side.

  The sharp capstan MUST rise the same distance as the natural capstans.

  Adjust the sharp height -dip combination as necessary to achieve this. Give a little ,take a little, but make sure the sharp looks right over the naturals and does not bury below the naturals. At this point I break my rule and check sharp height with a scale. It will be on either side of ½ inch +/- a scosh.

              If the capstans rise equal on all keys and the blow- letoff  is consistent ,after touch HAS to be consistent.

              A dead give away when this is wrong will be in the backcheck position. I'm not one to agonize over some inconsistency in back check position on low end verticals, but you will see the backchecks for the sharps WAY out of line with those of the naturals with inconsistent capstan rise.

              My point about measuring is that you can follow all the suggested dimensions from the manufacturer and the thing won't work .I.E. see that sticker on the inside of late model Kimball's 

              Understand the process and all you need is a dip block(s).The piano will tell you what to do.

   

                          Tom Driscoll RPT

   


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    I'm working on a Baldwin console.  The plate has 40 stamped on it.  It's a pretty good piano and is about to go back to its home.  The action is a little on the small side .The regulation is pretty good but I am needing more aftertouch.  

     

    Key height is 2 1/2" above the keybed.

    Hammer Blow distance is 1 3/4" to strings.

    Letoff is about 1/8" in the treble and 1/4" in the bass.

    The bass and midrange white keys are pretty good with correct aftertouch.  Some of the whites in the higher treble have shallow aftertouch.  

    Sharps have little aftertouch and are terrible.  They sit 13mm above the whites.

    There is nothing obviously wrong such as too many punchings under the keys. This piano does not appear to have been tinkered on by an unqualified toooooner.  

     

    My choices are:

      1.. Raise keys.  
      2.. Decrease hammer blow distance.  
      3.. Increase letoff. 
      4.. Increase dip. 
    With choice 1, I'm hesitant to do this as the keys are right up against the rail.  With choices 2 & 3, I feel like I'm losing power.  With choice 4, I feel like I'm chasing symptoms and not the real problem.  

     

    It may be that the action is compact enough that I just need to squeeze what little I can from all 4 choices.

     

    Any thoughts from the list?  Am I overlooking something?  Thanks in advance and happy holidays to all of you.

     

    Ron Shiflet  
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