I'm told by an esteemed rebuilder colleague that the
Steinway reproducer actions don't regulate quite the same as the
"regular" actions because the longer keys change the action
geometry. He says he usually has to compromise something in the
regulation for better playability.
I regulated one (player system removed) after installing new
hammers & shanks and can't quite get rid of bobbling hammers.
Or, not so much bobbling as hammers not wanting to check on a
soft blow.
The key height is as high as it can be without interference
from the fallboard. The blow is about as high as it can be (1
5/8") -- any higher and the bass hammers won't fit under the
pinblock. The dip was quite deep (almost 1/2") and I lessened
it to make it closer to 7/16".
The aftertouch is minimal. It's there, but just barely. I
know some say aftertouch should be 0.4 mm, which to my mind is
no aftertouch.
What prevents hammers from checking on a soft blow? Seems
no matter how much I fool with backcheck angle and distance from
the tail, some of them just will not check. No, I don't think
the rep springs are too strong.
Also the touch is too light -- about 45 grams DW. Vertigris
infested the entire action, which was the main reason for
replacing shanks. Customer's budget couldn't afford new wippens
or repinning all the rep levers, jacks, and wippen flanges, so I
"zapped" them all to free them up, tefloned the knuckles,
rebushed keys, & sprayed McLube on the keypins, since the action
was extremely sluggish before. But maybe all that was too much.
I don't know how to make the touch heavier now except to repin
all the wippen parts or install new ones, or re-balance the keys
(move the key leads).
--David Nereson, RPT
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