<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>RE: Question from a rank amatuer</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY>  I feel like I just sat through a masters' class. I will print this out and do some highlighting, and pin up next to the work bench. Thanks  -----Original Message----- From:   Andrew and Rebeca  Anderson [<A HREF="mailto:anrebe@sbcglobal.net">mailto:anrebe@sbcglobal.net</A>] Sent:   Sun May 07 10:08:19 2006 To:     Pianotech List Subject:        RE: Question  from  a  rank  amatuer Chris, When you regulate this you will want to have your hammers reshaped to a strike-point (as opposed to a long flat zone), sharper in the treble and broader in the bass (check out MotherGoose tools for a cool hammer shaping/fitting tool).  This may take off 1/8" inch or more.  You may then regulate a sample setting the capstan to get about 1&7/8" blow distance and start key-dip at about 3/8" and let-off between 1/8" and 1/16" of an inch below the strings (close is nice for controlled pianissimo playing but sensitive to humidity--not so nice).  Look at how it works as you depress the key.  The jack should come clear of the hammer shank knuckle without slamming into the rail. You want the back edge of the jack to line up with the back edge of the spline in the knuckle and to rapidly reset under the knuckle each cycle.  Room to reset under the knuckle is a balance lever adjustment.  In regulating you start from common measurements and then change them little by little on the sample to what works best for the action in front of you. You can decrease/increase blow distance a little depending how things work.  I'd not be inclined to decrease key-dip below 3/8".  It may be possible but I think undesirable to go really short on the dip.  This is probably why the dampers were set so early (too early now).  Damper under-lever timing is customarily set at 1/2 key travel or 3/16" dip in this example.  Early feels heavy and late feels light.  Too late and the damper wedges will still damp the middle unisons in the tenor when the key is fully depressed.  Too early and the levers will rest on the backs of the keys and the felt will not be in heavy enough contact with the strings to fully damp them.  You can put 3/16" of punchings under a key and measure the height of the back of the key when it has bottomed out.  Do this at several locations to get a good average.  You may find some really warped keys that will have to be regulated separately from the rest.  You can then table saw a piece of wood to that height (bottom of action rail to top of key) dimension and then slip it under the damper underlevers, loosen the screw, let the damper down/up to the strings and tighten using pliers to hold the wire and keep it from twisting.  If they do twist use a second plier to grip the lever and then twist the damper back into alignment with the strings. My reference to teflon was regarding lubricating the leather to leather contact of the repetition lever and the knuckle. [This is a Brambach, for everyone who is getting cross-eyed about now... ;-)] I had to CA treat the tuning pins in the bass section of this piano as they were too loose to stay put after tuning.  I tape aluminum foil to the underside of the block to contain any glue that might seep all the way through, hours later sometimes.  It is easily removable next time you pull the action and good prevention in drier climes where CA glue might not all set up before you re-insert the action.  Search the archives and you will find a tale of woe regarding seep through. I'm to regulate this piano sometime in the as yet unscheduled future and I'm going to be sure and take a camera with me then.  I was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was overall. There are plenty of experts who will have (and should offer) commentary to this with details I failed to verbalize. Good luck, Andrew Anderson At 12:14 AM 5/7/2006, you wrote: >It was actually the early notion of mass production that first >interested me in this piano. It is not unlike similar currents that >were happening in the world of architecture at the same time. > >At first, I thought this piano had had quite a hard life. The top >was ripped from its hinges, splintering the veneer and internal >laminations of the sides. The interior was filled with such an array >of dirt, food and other items (including a full pack of pokeman >cards) that it reminded me of the space under the seats of my '60 >rambler in high school. > >Having repaired the cabinet, I have been pleasantly surprised that >all of the keys and action appear to be in good working order: >nothing broken, warped, jerry-rigged, etc. The more I look at it, >the more I think its hard life was merely the last ten years. > >Any information any of you all have about the workings of this piano >I would be beholden to. The wippen is unlike any diagram I find in >any book, so figuring out what to do is always an interpolation of >something else. > >Thanks all > >Chris Thomas > >________________________________ > >From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org on behalf of Andrew and Rebeca Anderson >Sent: Sat 5/6/2006 10:50 PM >To: Pianotech List >Subject: RE: Question from a rank amatuer > > >I tuned a '29 Brambach baby G Friday.  Had a really sweet tone, no >beats in the treble.  All rear stringing unbraided.  Weird whippens, >the balancier stopped short of the jack and had a big bolstered >leather pad, teflon anyone?  Someone had re-whatevered it to about >1/4"+/- dip and the action wasn't cycling.  Luckily only the white >keys and it was quick work to pull the card stock. >The damper underlevers were all resting on the keys and with some >twenty years weren't doing too good a job of damping too (felt >compacted and not reaching the strings as well).  The hammers had >been nicely filed and the stroke was 2" +/- and let-off over >1/4".  Only had time to do so much after a huge pitch >correction.  At least with 3/8" dip the hammers no longer bobbled >off of the jacks on soft playing. > >The rim is quite thin.  I did a large overpull tuning like I do on a >D and than voiced the rear terminations and bearings, did another >overpull tuning and then worked on the action and voiced the front >terminations.  I had to do yet another overpull tuning with the >pitch 5-8 cents flat.  Sure is gratifying when a dull sounding piano >comes alive like that and becomes playable. > >Now to get back there and re-time the dampers.  With timing that >early it felt rather heavy. > >Andrew Anderson > >At 09:03 PM 5/6/2006, you wrote: > > >         This would be one of the original Brambach pianos. Mark > Campbell did not take over the company until 1912. Even then the > transformation from the original Brambach and the later, much more > mass-produced pianos did not take place immediately. This might be > quite a nice piano. Given that it is now some 94 years old and its > original builders only expected it to last something on the order > of 20 to 25 years. > >         Del > > > > >________________________________ > >                 From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [ > <A HREF="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org">mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A> <<A HREF="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org">mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A>> > ] On Behalf Of Joseph Garrett > >                 Sent: May 06, 2006 6:44 PM > >                 To: pianotech > >                 Subject: Re: Question from a rank amatuer > > >                 ".... has been restoring a 1910 Brambach piano." > > > >                 Is  this  a Grand or  an  Upright???  Need  to > know!  If  it's  a grand,  there are  some  anomolies  with  the > Brambach,  that  I can  answer,  as I  own  one,  that  is  a > "loner piano",  that  MUST be up to snuff.  Keeping  it > that  way  does  present  challenges, even  for me.<G> > >                 Keep in mind that Brambach pianos, > in  general,  were  inexpensive  pianos,  made  to  "fly out  the > door"!<G>  Some  of   the engineering  and materials > were  truly  suspect,  IMO. They can  be decent, however. > >                 Regards, > > > > > >                 Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon) > >                 Captain, Tool Police > >                 Squares R I > > > > > > > > </BODY> </HTML>