<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> <font size="+1">I rebuilt the action of an 1881 Steinway upright 15+ years ago and noted that the tone in the 5th/6th octaves didn't sound quite like a piano. It was a spec piano and a prospective buyer decided not to buy it because of the tone in that area, so I experimented with the strike line on the advise of a fellow tech. I found that the tone improved if I moved the first treble hammer up 5/16" from the original position, tapering off to standard height somewhere in the high treble. <br> <br> Comparing the ratio of strike distance to speaking length with the same ratio in a Yamaha U3, I discovered that they were the same. The 5/16" change was a lucky guess; I like the way Dale arrives at it.<br> <br> Tom Cole<br> </font><br> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Erwinspiano@aol.com">Erwinspiano@aol.com</a> wrote: <blockquote cite="midc79.18097142.33ce7dd8@aol.com" type="cite"> <meta http-equiv="Context-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <div> <div><strong><em>Hi Phil</em></strong></div> <div><strong><em>  The upright part of this exercise is rather a new venture & both times on Steinway uprights which received new butts & shanks.  Knowing that the problem children notes are always in the same area/octave 5 & 6, I just left the shanks a bit long & starting experimenting. It really helps to have a nice tight dry shank to hammer fit so positiong for optimal sound can be done without glue.</em></strong></div> <div><strong><em>  Make sense. We are currently rebuilding  a beautiful 1904 Fischer upright & I will pay more attention tonally to it the killer ocatave than I would have in the past.  Since Steinways are the most common piano we work on It is these I am most familiar with & am prepared for this up front. </em></strong></div> <div><strong><em>   However we are completing a BB Mason with a mild but V shaped strike line between the first & second capo are. IE notes 70 ish are the closest to the player but only by 2 to 3 MM.</em></strong></div> <div><strong><em>  </em></strong></div> <div><strong><em>  Dale Erwin</em></strong></div> <blockquote> Dale... I read the request for your hammer positioning method. I understand <br> how you remove and reglue grand hammers down the shanks for optimal tone (I <br> was at your PA PTG class), but what is your method on a vertical where the <br> shank holes don't go all the way through the hammer molding? Do you test <br> each hammer in the piano, cutting the shanks as you go?<br> <br> Thanks,<br> <br> Philip Jamison<br> West Chester, PA </blockquote> </div> <div> </div> <br> <br> <br> <div> Get a sneak peek of the all-new <a title="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982" href="http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000982">AOL.com</a>. </div> </blockquote> </body> </html>