<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: Mother goose string leveler</TITLE> <STYLE type=text/css></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY style="BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER= -LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none"> <P><BR>Man, I need to take a class on this...</P> <P>David I.</P> <P> <HR> Original message<BR>From: "William Ballard" <YARDBIRD@VERMONTEL.NET><BR= >To: Pianotech <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>Received: 9/13/2005 7:39:18 PM<BR= >Subject: Re: Mother goose string leveler<BR><BR></P> <DIV style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5p= x; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 3px solid; PADDING-TOP: 5px"> <DIV align=left><FONT color=#000000>At 10:13 PM -0400 9/12/05, Erwi= nspiano@aol.com wrote:</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"><FONT color=#000000>Anybody else = discover this little Jem?</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Previous to what I now do (which is nearly twenty years old), I us= ed to use one of the drill guide blocks from the upright hammer hand-bo= ring jig, the half-hole one (being the thinner of the two guide blocks)= .</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>But then I noticed that getting the three strings to contact the b= lock still wouldn't guarantee the same hammer-to-string contact when yo= u went from standard keyboard position to Una Corda. The only thing wor= se for a UC sound than un-level strings is hardener at the strike point= .</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>So the final step in hammer re-shaping is to confirm that the hamm= er strike surfaces are level and square, usually with a straight edge s= itting on the hammer flanges, but always being certain that what you're= sighting across is the strike surface instead of slightly over the hil= l from it (one side or the other). I'd already figured out that it does= n't take to many mils of error here to turn one string into an audibly = "open" one, all the more so with harder felt than softer. Anyone who ha= s run across Don Mannino's "speed bumps" has noticed this.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>With the hammer strike surfaces confirmed to be level and square, = I check open strings, first in the standard position and then the UC fo= r each note. If I hear open strings in the standard position, I make a = mental note on the beach of my brain of the exact pattern LH/C/RH and s= ee what  happens to that pattern in the UC (remembering off course= that the LH string is out of the picture). If the open string pattern = for the C/RH strings stays the same, it's the strings which aren't leve= l. If the C/RH string pattern equals what the LH/C pattern was, then my= strike surface leveling wasn't good enough. If the UC C/RH pattern bea= rs no resemblance to either the standard position LH/C or C/RH, then th= e level at both the strings and the strike surface are out to lunch. Bu= t with good hammer re-shaping, it'll rarely be anything except the fist= scenario (ie., the open string pattern has stayed with the strings ins= tead of moved with the hammer).</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE cite="" type="cite"><FONT color=#000000>I've noticed = it is important to put the device as close to the striking spot on the = string for accuracy as  it is level strings at the hammer strike p= oint</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>I noticed that too, with a dial indicator under the strings and sa= mpling the string level at various points approaching the actual strike= point.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Bill Ballard RPT</DIV> <DIV>NH Chapter, P.T.G.<BR><BR>"When writing a mental note, first procu= re a mental piece of paper"<BR>    ............mental gr= affitti</DIV> <DIV>+++++++++++++++++++++</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>