<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> <DIV>In a message dated 11/14/2007 10:11:01 AM Pacific Standard Time, gnewell@ameritech.net writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>The school didn't like my original quote and did<BR>something cheaper. Now they want me to fix the rather pronounced click and<BR>heavy feel when keys are played.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Hi Greg,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Don't be too quick to try to bail them out. While you certainly want to take a cooperative rather than a punitive stance, <EM>this action still needs the same work as it did when you quoted it,</EM> and anything short of putting it into correct playing condition will leave <U>you</U> holding the bag. Returning to your original post -- after you finish a complete analysis, the school might want at least to have a conversation with the person who did the work. They have paid for something they didn't get. This action simply does not function as designed, a waste of a $50,000 piano. They should have their legal department contact the previous person and insist on a refund. Although I wouldn't hold my breath, it seems like the next step, and would help defray the cost of having it done right. </FONT><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">I might suggest a return of the labor portion of the job, and even be willing to return his parts. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Based on the current clues, I'll bet five cents (a large wager for me) you're going to find other issues. Check the traveling and hammer tip. Look at the string marks and see if the hammer spacing is correct. Check the fore/aft placement of #88 by sound. The aftertouch is obviously not correct, or the jack would not be so far beyond the knuckle at the end of the keystroke. Shortening the aftertouch and adding to the felt in the window might stop the jack from flying into the hammer flange, but you've still got a spread problem. The heavy touch, even with what will probably turn out to be 17mm shanks, means a wrong relationship somewhere. If they're 16mm shanks, the hammers might also be too heavy. Punch off #40 and weigh it. Put known parts on a note, and regulate it completely, setting the blow at 1.75", the letoff at a millimeter or so, and the aftertouch at about .030 to .035. Measure the dip that produces. If the shanks are 17mm, you'll probably have something like .420. If 16mm, maybe .390 to .400. This is quick and dirty action analysis -- anything much different and it's more evidence you'll need to look further.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Since the back rail cloth is original, there's something screwy in the damper pickup, and at a minimum you'll have to replace pickup felt and readjust dampers, maybe more (like if someone has clipped the wires). </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">The action spread is too narrow, so you're going to have to address it. I've never been a fan of rail shimming, because it lifts the center of the flange away from the rail -- tightening the flange can either distort or break it. It goes back some years to when people were using Hamburg parts because of the poor quality of the NY parts, and because modern hammers tended to be heavier. The Hamburg parts were set up for a longer knuckle distance as well as different spread, so the stopgap fix was shimming the repetitions away from the rail with veneer. You might have room to move the rail back in the brackets. If you don't feel up to it, hire it out. This might or might not have consequences in the capstan line.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">In short, don't shoot from the hip on this one. Take whatever time you need to analyze this from scratch, and charge for it. Tell the school that there are so many problems that you will need several hours for assessment, at your hourly rate. Write a full report, both as ammunition for the legal department, and as protection for your own reputation. You might even suggest a second opinion (from someone you trust).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Good luck, and keep us posted,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style">Bob Davis</FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>