After checking out the friction things, I'd first go for things that aren't a lot of work. You can do the half-punching trick (glue the existing cloth punching on the rear side of the key, cut it in half removing the front part of the punching--you'll lose about 4 grams or so--or at least that's how much change there was on my piano) or consider using the TouchRail available from Scott Jones. Barbara Richmond ----- Original Message ----- From: "William Monroe" <bill at a440piano.net> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 6:13:23 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Re: [pianotech] Best way to change touch on Yamaha Grand Hi Martin, Probably a can of worms here, as there really isn't a "right" thing to do without first considering a few things. I think my first diagnostic would be to assess the friction in the action, and eliminate as much as possible, lubing keypins/bushings, repinning hammers to a low friction level, say 3-4g. I'd also want to check knuckle condition and bolster/replace and lube them as well. My second diagnostic would be to find out how married your client is to the current tone of the piano. Lightening the hammers gets you great benefit for little cost, but will also change the tone and projection/power of the piano. Presumably with a 5'3" piano we're not "real" concerned about projection, but it's something to consider. If the tone is weak, consider filing/shaping hammers and possibly hardening them. The resulting brighter tone really can make the piano "easier" to play. Having done this, one is able to work less hard to achieve a particular dynamic level. There are a number of more elaborate geometry solutions that may help, including adjusting knuckle placement or capstan position among others. I'd also want to take a look at the leading and see if I couldn't remove a lead from each key, thereby reducing inertia. Often high inertia, low DW pianos play harder than lower inertia, higher DW pianos. Perhaps others will fill in more here. I wouldn't consider myself an "expert" on action geometry, I just know enough to be dangerous. ;-] Hope this gives you a start. I think it's really a lot of individual assessment, though with the particular piano in question. William R. Monroe On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 5:37 PM, martin cipolla < pianodoctor at msn.com > wrote: My client has developed arthrits and needs to have the action quite a bit lighter on her 5` 3`` Yamaha Grand. This is not something I have done before and would appreciate any suggestions on how to lighten the touch for her. Thanks, Marty -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100106/ac341bee/attachment.htm>
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