[pianotech] key leveling with a curve

[Ryan Sowers]

Ron,

I agree it's a subtle difference, but one that is certainly noticeable to an
artistic eye. After leveling keys for many years, a technician's eye gets
very sensitive to these things - but you're absolutely right that it would
be unlikely that an average person could tell the difference. But it's a
similar phenomenon with tuning, right? Most clients would be hard pressed to
tell the difference between a decent tuning and a great tuning.

Some of the work we do as technicians is because we love it, not because
anyone will notice that one minute detail that we spend several minutes
perfecting. To me it's part of the joy and challenge of the work to
sometimes split hairs. Of course we have to decide which hairs are worth
splitting! That may come down to individual preferences and what you get a
kick out of. For some it's tuning, for others regulating, and for others
refinishing, etc.

Of course, one of the reasons I crown the keys when leveling a Steinway is
because that's what Steinway prefers, and after all, I paid some ungodly sum
for the factory key leveling  stick, so by gum! I'm gonna use it!

Interestingly, the factory stick is crowned on one side and straight on the
other! My own general preference on this issue is to more or less match what
is there. If the piano I'm working on looks like it had originally had a
crowned keyboard I'll use the curved stick and vice-versa. These days, if I
have to start completely from scratch I go with the crowned. But, who knows?
I can be fickle about these kind of things. I reserve the right to change my
mind!

On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 9:33 PM, Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net> wrote:

>
> Functionally, it's a non event. Visual aesthetics are an almost plausible
> explanation. Then again, it would be interesting to see if anyone (at all)
> could visually (without sighting down the row) pick a 1/32" crowned key
> level out from among six pianos, five of which are leveled flat. Can anyone
> actually do this, or is sheep dip, yet again, apparently an acquired taste?
>
> Ron N
>



-- 
Ryan Sowers, RPT
Puget Sound Chapter
Olympia, WA
www.pianova.net
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