Maybe a little of both....How crushed are the old leathers? I'm thinking in Hawaii, those cushions must be pretty much crushed up and crackly by now.  Try the pedal leather first, then the other.  Check for too far of drifting to hit the upper neighboring strings, or ?  Are the hammers aligned juuuuust right?  Put it on the Juuuuuust right-meter with full pedal press, and see how that works out too.  Or, pedal press depth....is it going too far down? look at the pedal lyre rod cushions at the pedal.  They might be toast too.   Is this the one you just fixed the lyre rods on too?  Make sure that wasn't a little too short, or little too long...  They all go together, my friend! Best, Paul <table width=100%> <tr valign=top> <td>From: <td>tnrwim@aol.com <tr valign=top> <td>To: <td>pianotech@ptg.org <tr valign=top> <td>Date: <td>11/13/2011 02:46 PM <tr valign=top> <td>Subject: <td>[pianotech] shift shim</table> <hr noshade> The shift on my S&S has about a 1/2" - 5/8" gap. Should I shim the action frame or add leather to the shift lever at the pedal rod?   WIm