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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for all the advice about my =
Hamilton! Unfortunately I don't have the piano with me at this
moment. It is in another state. I just moved it to Virginia, =
where I
spend a lot of time and had missed having a piano to play. I'll =
eventually
be selling it, as the restoration on the Wissner comes along. On =
my last
trip I tuned and did some regulation work (key leveling, capstan, hammer =
stroke,
letoff, center pins tight and correctly situated), as well as shaping =
and
roughly voicing the hammers. This Thanksgiving I'll =
do another
tuning, "fine-tune" the voicing, revisit the bridle strap issue, and =
adjust
backchecks and dampers. I will be able to try out some of your =
suggestions
regarding the "bobbling" notes at that time. (I didn't understand =
the
jargon term "bobbling" until now! I'll search the archives for =
that
term.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Let's see, in no particular =
order...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>John: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What is "Corfam?" I take it this =
is some sort
of synthetic buckskin??? What I have is rather light in color, =
more so
than most buckskin I've seen, but then again, the piano is quite clean =
and
hasn't seen heavy usage. (It belonged to a music teacher for =
3 years
and then to me for the rest of its life -- unplayed while I was off to =
college,
played seldom while I was in graduate school, thereafter played less =
than other
pianos I had available.) The tips of the jacks are coated with =
some sort
of green plastic (teflon?). Does this suggest Corfam? I'm =
afraid I
don't have the time/resources/inclination to put major work into the =
Hamilton
before its sale, so replacing 88 pieces of Corfam might need to be a job =
for the
next owner. I might think about replacing just the =
buckskins/Corfam that
show wear. However, the "bobbling" problem occurs even on notes =
that don't
see a lot of usage.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The buckskins seem in fairly good =
condition
overall. Some show very minor indentation, but all the jacks
escape easily when the letoff button is engaged. The bobbling =
occurs
only on very light keystrokes when the wippen is not yet =
elevated
enough to engage the letoff button, the butt bumps off of the end of the =
jack,
the hammer hits the strings (wippen still not high enough to engage the =
letoff,
jack still under butt), the hammer bounces away from the strings, and =
the but
lands back on the jack, rebounding for another soft strike.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Avery:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The problem has nothing to do with =
movement of the
hammer rail with the soft pedal. When I refered to pp playing, I =
was
referring to a soft stroke without the soft pedal engaged. (I hate =
using
the soft pedal -- but might grow to like it now that I have a =
proper UC on
my grand. <smile>) The overall hammer stroke is a bit =
high-ish
at 1 7/8", but the letoff is also high at 1/4", which is the minimum =
distance
that would eliminate the "bobbling." These settings would preserve =
the
same *power* stroke (not sure if this is a recognized piano tech term -- =
mean it
in an engineering sense) of 1 5/8". Key dip is 3/8". I =
haven't
adjusted the backchecks yet, and I don't know how they are positioned on =
the
problem notes. However, the bobbling isn't a backcheck problem, =
since it
occurs before the key is fully depressed, before the jack is =
disengaged,
and before the catcher would/should even fly into the backcheck. I =
seem to
have adequate aftertouch, BTW, on all the keys. There aren't any =
jacks
that fail to kick out.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Carl, Oleg, and Avery:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I didn't think to check the tightness =
of the bridle
straps! I look forward to examining that as a possible cause of my =
difficulties. And yes, Oleg, I suspect the voicing could help =
too.
It's been ages since those hammers were voiced. (I actually don't =
mind a
bright sound. It's just gotten a bit harsh lately.) I did a =
rough
round of voicing on the last trip and played the piano for a couple of
weeks. Now I think I'm ready to "fine-tune" the voicing a =
bit.
Anyway I suspect the hammers are bouncing around like ping pong balls, =
and a
softer hammer might help. Even so, this "bobbling" has been an =
age-old
problem that has even frustrated the pros who have worked on my piano -- =
even
when the hammers were considerably softer and to their =
liking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's also comforting to =
know pianos
aren't always expected to conform to textbook specs and that a =
broader
letoff is sometimes considered necessary. Still, it would be nice =
to have
a tighter letoff, which would add control at pp levels. Hopefully
tightening the bridle straps will achieve that for me. I'll let =
you know
how it turns out.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>... and thanks for the encouragement, =
everyone!
:-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca =
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">John
Ross</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 11, 2002 =
9:49
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Newbie question: =
Are bridle
straps necessary?</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT =
face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Speaking of buckskin, some of the Hamiltons, had the dreaded =
Corfam. This
should be replaced.</DIV>
<DIV>Regardsm</DIV>
<DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia.<BR><A
=
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV>=
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kenneth.gerler@prodigy.net
=
href="mailto:kenneth.gerler@prodigy.net">kenneth.gerler@prodigy.net</A>=
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=sarah@gendernet.org
href="mailto:sarah@gendernet.org">sarah@gendernet.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 11, =
2002 1:21
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Newbie question: =
Are
bridle straps necessary?</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>About the regulation (hammers =
bouncing).
Depending on where the Hamilton was, the hammer butt buckskin where =
the jack
contacts the hammer butt becomes worn after many years of
playing. If the regulation is set to specs without repairing =
that
buckskin, there is an indentation in the buckskin that the jack can =
not
escape and that causes the "bouncing" action. That is the reason the =
in
can't be regulated properly. Look at the buckskin of a new hammer =
butt and
compare it to the hammer butts in your Hamilton, you will see the =
wear. OR
if a butt or two didn't have the jacks centered on the buckskin, you =
can see
the ridge left on one side or the other and then you can compare how =
much
wear is visible.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ken
Gerler</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>