aftertouch vs jack escapement

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

Ed Miller-

1/8" jack escapement is too much.  1/16" is plenty.

Check for lost motion. Excess lost motion is often just enough to steal your aftertouch.

Use a checking distance gauge as Cy Shuster recommends.  Bend a coat hanger wire to 5/8" or mount a section of 5/8" dowel on a stick.

Worn hammers or flat hammer butts may make it impossible to get a good regulation.

If you are studying for the RPT exams, you can post questions like this to the ExamPrep list (see members' section of ptg.org)

Ed Sutton

-----Original Message-----
>From: ed miller <edmiller3 at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Jan 25, 2007 8:42 PM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: aftertouch vs jack escapement
>
>I'm regulating a Knabe upright. I’m having a problem juggling acceptable 
>aftertouch vs. an acceptable amount of jack escapement out from under the 
>hammer butt.
>
>With blow distance set at 1.75", let-off at 1/8", key dip at 3/8" and 
>checking at 5/8".... aftertouch is about .040". With the dimensions as such 
>the key feels like it plays well. In previous regulations I would have been 
>very happy with this.
>
>However, this time I'm regulating according to Bill Spurlock's Vertical 
>regulation pamphlet. In it he talks about aiming to have jack escapement be 
>1/16-1/8" out from under the hammer butt when the key is fully depressed. 
>With all of the above dimensions in this Knabe upright the jack doesn't 
>rotate completely out from under the hammer butt.
>
>Spurlock suggests decreasing the hammer blow distance to allow the jack to 
>escape further. When I do this my aftertouch becomes too great. If rather, I 
>increase the key dip to allow for more jack escapement aftertouch becomes 
>too great again.
>
>In order to have the jack escape properly I would have to decrease the 
>hammer blow distance to under 1.5” (I know because I tried it). As I 
>suspected my aftertouch shot up, it was then .100”. If I then decrease key 
>dip, the jack doesn’t rotate far enough.
>
>Then I tried to make my checking earlier. Even at less then .5” checking the 
>jack doesn’t completely get out of the hammer butts way before it is caught.
>
>What do I do????
>
>Thanks, Ed
>
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