<HTML style="FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif; FONT-SIZE: x-small"><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=windows-1251" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19019"></HEAD> <BODY> <P> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David N. Said: </DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>"I've encountered this several times now with grand pianos. I </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>level strings. Then for each unison I hold the hammer up </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>against the strings by pressing upward on the jack tender, and </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>pluck the strings. The ones that ring aren't being damped by </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>the hammer. The ones that don't ring are being damped, </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>indicating (supposedly) that the hammer is "high" under that </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>string. Trouble is, I get the indication that all the hammers </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>in the low tenor are high on the right. Yet when tipping the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>front of the action up and viewing the strike points (which </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>appear just above the flange screws from this vantage point), </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>they appear straight across.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>( _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ )</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>If I then file the right side of each hammer so that all 3 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>strings of each unison are damped equally when holding the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>hammers against them, then look at them again from the front, </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>they appear like the teeth of a giant rip saw (|\ |\ |\ |\ </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>|\ |\ |\ |\ , but imagine the line slanting to the right -- </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>the strike point-- slants only about a third as much as the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>backslash.) But when I leveled strings, nothing told me that </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>the right string of each unison was low, especially not that far </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>low.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>This problem doesn't occur in the section with </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>non-angle-bored hammers nor in the capo sections. So I'm </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>wondering if, because of the angled hammers (not in line with </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>the shank), the shank flexes when pressing up on the jack, </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>causing the hammer to lean to the left, and giving me a false </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>indication of how the top of the hammer is shaped.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>I've also had situations when, after spacing hammers, some </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>of them still get thrown aside slightly on a hard blow, so that </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>one unison string doesn't sound as loudly as the others. In </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>other words, the angle bore or something else is causing the </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>hammer to travel or lean on a hard blow."</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>--David,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>Hmmmm? Have you ever hung a set of grand hammers? If so, then you should know that the whole process needs to be thought of in a 3 dimensional perspective. If the angled hammers are hung at true vertical, oft-times the tails will drag on it's neighbor and the shoulders will bind on the opposite neighbor. To avoid this the hammers are actually hung with a slight tilt. What you are observing, IMO, is that "tilt". Put a flat board under the tails and check, with square,  to see if the hammers are exactly at Vertical or some degrees off. If they're off, then that would produce the problem you are perceiving. OR...there is a situation with some grands, where the agraffes are consistantly off, because of the angle of the overstringing and way they were seated. That is not as common, but I have seen it. (or, at least, I thought I did.<G>)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Regards,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Joe</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0>------------------------------</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=+0></FONT> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.</DIV> <DIV>Captain of the Tool Police</DIV> <DIV>Squares R I</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <P></P></BODY></HTML>