<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16448" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Hello Bob and all.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Not sure what I will say is pertinent or not, but isn't there
that feature in Steinway pianos that the belly rail is somewhat curved, while
the keybed is straight ? I thought this was intended to help keeping the
board curved also. And at some moment, I came to believe (is this true ?)
that this was the reason why the Steinway specs ask for tapering to 1 more
millimeter key height in the middle of the keyboard than at the sides.
Indeed, if the hammer height is to be set as to keep the distance from hammer to
string constant, the hammer line would be slightly curved also, following the
board and belly rail curve. And logically (while I suspect that the
geometry would not exactly call for that) the key height would have to follow
(well logically it is the whippen rail and the rest felt that also should
follow).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>While I'm a bit confused with all this, maybe experienced
someone could comment on this ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Yet in Bechstein pianos I have seen, the belly rail is not
curved, and sometimes (not always) you can measure about the same string heigth
variations as you describe, from section to section. In this case, I
interpreted this as the limit of accuracy they then reached in casting the iron
frame. Is it so ? And this should be easy to correct by
tweeking agraffee heigth, not ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I'm even more confused now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Best regards.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Stéphane Collin.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=BobDavis88@aol.com
href="mailto:BobDavis88@aol.com">BobDavis88@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, June 08, 2007 8:05 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: string height</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 6/7/2007 7:01:04 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Frank
writes, in response to Alan's question about uneven string heights in Steinway
and Yamaha:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
face="MS Sans Serif" size=2>I cannot imagine the design intent being
anything other that equal string heights at the respective strike
points. Are you sure you were measuring precisely at the strike
point? </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">I don't know Yamahas that well, but every
Steinway I have measured (hundreds) exhibits this. Typically, taking three
measurements in the tenor, two in alto, two in treble, string heights on all
models except the D would measure:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">192mm-193-192 | 192-191 | 190-189
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">or something like it. I've seen as high as
193-194-193 sloping to as low as 188. I'd suspect undesirable plate warp,
especially since the plate webbing usually somewhat mirrors this;
but what do I know - I'm sure it's a Feature. Saw the tops off the
treble hammers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Bob D</FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR>
<DIV><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black">
<HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">
See what's free at <A title=http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503
href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target=_blank>AOL.com</A>.
</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>