<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#d8d0c8">Hello Stephane, Yes, you have described what I thought was called a "Viennese action." &= nbsp;Thanks for all of your helpful insights into this.  Yes, it is qui= te like a modern action, other than the rocker capstans and the jack arrange= ment.  Too bad there isn't a jack adjustment other than replacing the f= elt.  That's how it appeared to me, but I thought I'd missed something! Don't know how much the lady wants to spend on getting this piano up to = speed, but I look forward to working on it at some point in time. Thanks again, Dave Stah ln a message dated 6/4/03 11:12:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time, collin.s@sk= ynet.be writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Hello Dave. A Bechstein with viennese action ?  Never seen that.  Isn't vi= ennese action that with the hammers placed on the key, and turned toward the= player ? From what you say (and from the age of the instrument), I believe that i= t has a Isermann action, where you aling the jack to the knuckles by replaci= ng the little piece of soft felt on which the jack rests (often compressed) = by a new one of the correct thickness.  This is very important, as inco= rrect alignment of the jack causes much heavyness due to extra friction of t= he jack on the knuckle, and extra work of the jack lifting the hammer shank = over a longer distance. If I guess right, the by you called capstan arrangement is a rocker with= two screws, and with a little leg linked to the whippen.  I believe th= at this arrangement, well regulated, provides more control and quicker repet= ition capabilities, as the key never looses contact with the whippen.  = It is just much more work to take off the stack from the keyframe.  Apa= rt from this feature, it should be the same as a modern standard action. A common cause of noise in this action, apart from all the worn felt bus= hings and punchings, is precisely that rocker, whose two screws must be tigh= t against it.  Else, you get that wooden noise from the rocker's minute= wobbling.  You would need a special (horizontal) screwdriver allowing = you to access those screws.  There is a "tour de main", when regulating= the blow distance with this rocker, to always keep good contact and pressur= e between both screws and the rocker. If the action has a rail attached to the back of the hammer rest rail (b= ut I don't think so), that is a rail intended to stop the upward movement of= the back of the key (causing the key to lift from the balance rail on forte= blows, thus wobbling), and if that felt is compressed also, you can get muc= h knocking noise from there.  Replace the felt by mid soft one, and reg= ulate so the keys fully depressed are just touching this rail. Hope this helps. </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>