<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"> <DIV>Ric writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A Renner action in a 12 year old Petrof concert grand which feels heavy and tiring to pianists.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The D/W  average is 48g and U/W average 28g. Action ratio around 5.5</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">etc.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Two things - </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">First, how's the voicing, especially as you go from mp to mf or f? If it doesn't open up through this range, it can feel like it takes more effort to get sound. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Second, to get a more complete picture quickly, check for inertia at the other end of the stick - weigh the hammer strike weight on note 1 and note 25 or so. If it's over about 11 grams on 1 and 10.5 on 25, you may be able to skin the hammers. You'll have to remove a little lead to rebalance, so it will help with inertia at both ends, as well as open up the tone. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">You can make a strike-weight-checker by putting a razor blade in a slot in a piece of wood. Put the strike point of the hammer on your gram scale with the shank horizontal, stick the flange straight up into the air, and shim the block with the razor blade in it so it supports the (horizontal) shank right under the pin. This is a little crude, but it will tell you what you need to know. If you don't have a gram scale, I think it's an important investment for anyone who is doing action work.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Bob Davis</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>