<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Wow, those are very interesting concepts.  I know I am preaching to the choir here, but would that modern manufacturers would be as experimental as western makers of a century ago. I assessed an 1890s Collard & Collard parallel strung upright for a retired couple today, and was struck by the sheer elegance of some of the shapes, in particular the bass bridge apron, and the balance hammer.  It was a bridle tape action, not a spring & loop, but with very long jacks.  I'd have liked to take some photos, but didn't care to presume, when it wasn't a regular customer and I was only appraising.  They may or may not decide to go ahead with tuning and the little repairs it needs. The idea of adding mass as a means to improve response is intriguing. Best regards, David <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.davidboyce.co.uk">www.davidboyce.co.uk</a> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">It has long puzzled me why we laud the grand action because its return is gravity driven and then we work to take as much mass as possible out of the upright wippen. And hammerbutt, for that. Adding mass to the wippen body does improve the touch and feel of the vertical action. The wippen better tracks the motion of the key--indeed, as Dean wrote, the whole function of the action is improved. And it doesn't take much. It also helps, if there is room, to add a bit of mass to the catcher. And, of course, back off on the hammerbutt return springs. If you really want to get fancy go one step further and add some mass to the damper heads and back off on those springs as well. ddf</pre> </blockquote> </body> </html>