<HTML>In a message dated 4/17/01 7:49:03 AM Central Daylight Time, ILEENKM@AOL.COM writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Hi LIst- I am about to start regulating a Charles Walter studio upright. It has the  split type hammer rail, with part of it screwed to the brackets and the center section  which pushes the hammers forward  attached to the  soft pedal . What is the best way to regulate the hammer blow distance on this type of action?   </BLOCKQUOTE> To shorten the blow distance, you could place some thin strips of felt, cardboard or veneer between the rail and the part that moves but I caution you to be very sure that this is what you want to do. In most books or manuals on regulation, the very first thing you are told to do is "set the blow distance".  Many people make the mistake of making some kind of measurement with a ruler and proceed to make the blow distance far to short.  This, first of all, causes a loss of power and control by putting far too much Aftertouch in the final outcome.  But it may also cause the regulator to make other totally unnecessary adjustments, particularly the damper spoons. Virtually all verticals are initially set up with a deliberately short blow distance because all of the material that supports that distance will slowly compress.  Also, as the hammer wears, it will become shorter, increasing the blow distance. The best approach will be to change as little as possible.  Keep that in mind as you work. If the hammers need filing, do so.  Check for loose pinning and repin where necessary.  Tighten all flanges.  Space, travel and straighten (burn) hammer shanks.  With the action in the piano, take up any lost motion there may be at this point.  Now, check key level.  Again, don't measure or go by some arbitrary key height specification. Simply take a straight edge, pick out the worst of the lowest keys first, slip in punchings under the balance rail felt until you have corrected all the dips in the white keys.  Once they are level, do the same with the sharps.  Don't ever leave paper punchings on top of the felts! Now, check and correct let-off.  In a vertical, don't try to get it as close as you do in a grand, particularly if the hammers have been filed quite a bit.  1/8" is OK in many cases.  In most instances, this will mean from 1-3 half turn cranks counterclockwise.  Any more than that, suspect that something is wrong.  Make sure the let off button rail is firmly and properly attached and that the action is firmly and properly seated. Now, look at how much Aftertouch there is.  If there is a lot and the key dip is deep, fill the white keys in using a dip block or simply fill in until the Aftertouch is comfortable but the dip is not significantly more shallow than the dip block.  Fill in the black key dip to match the Aftertouch of the white keys.  When the black key is fully depressed, it should come to rest still slightly above the plane of the white keys, never "burying" themselves between them. Now, without ever having adjusted the Blow Distance at all, nor the damper spoons or Backchecks, does the action work well?  Do the dampers lift properly?  Do the hammers fall into check conveniently? If there is very little or no Aftertouch, the dampers lift late and the hammers check too far from the strings, this is the time to shorten the blow distance.  Before shimming the rail, simply raise the capstan on a few test hammers to find the point where things start working properly.  Chances are that this will be a minimal amount.  It will probably only take some thin shims to shorten the Blow Distance sufficiently. The whole point is that it is assumed that the action was set up originally to work the best possible, allowing for natural compression and wear.  The task of regulation is to simply *compensate* for the changes that have occurred, not establish all new parameters.  Of course, you may still have to make *minor* adjustments to the backchecks and damper spoons but any of these adjustments should be slight. otherwise trouble may be expected. From my 32 years experience doing this work, I can tell you that the first and the biggest mistake that people make is to prop up the blow distance all too short and really make a nightmare out of the whole project.  *Most* of the time, you won't need to adjust it at all and if anything, it will be a very small amount.  *Less* is *more*. Good luck. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>