ok, i'm listening

[William R. Monroe]

John Cole wrote:

>.......You say the hammers hitting the adjacent note's left string in the 
>shifted position means the action is shifting too far to the right and 
>needs shimmed or the stop screw needs adjusting. ..........

>What I don't get is why...The hammer problem only happened with those two 
> >notes (G4 & > G#4). I would figure that if it is an action shift problem, 
>I should >have this hammer swing problem throughout the whole action.

I'd suggest that you very well might have that problem throughout.  That is, 
the action may shift too far to the right, and G4 and G#4 are the very worst 
offenders, perhaps just slightly more out of alignment than the other notes. 
It may not be, but is certainly worth considering.

At any rate, first things first.  Check the hammer alignment at rest 
throughout the instrument and make sure that, at rest, the hammers are 
aligned to the strings properly.  Correct if necessary.  If your problem 
hammers are the only ones not properly aligned, space them (check for 
perpendicular travel too) appropriately.  If it is all the hammers that are 
out of alignment, adjust the action position at rest.

Now that the hammers are aligned to the strings properly at rest, depress 
the shift pedal and see how far the action shifts.  At this point, you 
should have solved the problem of striking the neighboring strings, since 
most of the hammers weren't before, and the problem ones would now be 
aligned the same as the others.  However, the action still may be shifting 
too far to the right.  Check and correct.

> Now, as to the damper problem, it is only with two keys--G#4 and C6. When 
> you play G4 and B6 everything works normal. The problem is that G#4 lifts 
> the G4 & G#4 dampers and C6 lifts the B6 and C6 dampers.
> John

Right, so the G#4 and C6 keys are lifting their neighboring underlevers i.e. 
either the key end felts are at rest too far to the left, or, the 
underlevers are too far to the right (or some portion, e.g. leads, key end 
felts).  Sometimes sloppy trimming of the key end felt leaves too much on 
one side or the other of the key end (in this case the left side).  You may 
simply need to trim the felt flush with the side of the key end.  Or as 
David L points out, realigning the action or underlevers.  Be aware that any 
change in the position of the action at rest will require spacing the 
hammers again (unless, of course, that is why you are repositioning the 
action in the first place).

Do let us know what you find.

William R. Monroe