<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple id="role_body" bottomMargin=7 leftmargin=7 topmargin=7 rightMargin=7> <div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial id="role_document"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Dave,</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>You raise some interesting questions.</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I have a question. If you only wanted to delay the damper lift, why didn’t you adjust the spoons? Then there would have been no change in damper regulation (twist etc.), capstans or sostenuto. If the result was not good, you could bend them back. Just wondering.</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Setting the lift at 2/3 hammer travel seems a bit far. One possible negative. The piano might sound a little dry (less resonant), because the damper is stopping the string sooner as the key is released. I have heard this complaint from pianists when the damper timing is set late. Perhaps a Seiler has so much resonance that this is no problem.</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>There are so many discussions on this list about weight, but the issue of checking damper timing rarely comes up. Yet it has a big influence on the apparent weight. I’m glad to hear you are trying this. Have others tried the piano since your adjustments? How to they like the results? Keep us informed.</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Jerry Cohen, RPT</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>New Jersey Chapter</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size: 10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Piannaman@aol.com<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:30 AM<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> pianotech@ptg.org<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> raising damper lift to lighten touch</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Far flung friends and fellow techs,</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>One nice thing about doing occasional store work is that there are lots of guinea pigs to try things out on before I do it in a customer's home.  </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Yesterday the manager of one of my store accounts said he had a customer who loved the Seiler 186, but the touch was a tad too heavy for her tastes.  I suggested the least invasive procedure I could think of--raising the point of damper lift.  He said okay.</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>I regulated the dampers by loosening all the wire block screws and lowering the wires, using the tray(raised to the proper point) as a guide.  I brought the lift point to where the hammer was about 2/3 of the way to the string.  To the touch, it felt like lift was beginning just before letoff.</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>I fine regulated them by adjusting the capstans.  (still doesn't look quite as good as a Seiler factory job, but it's not bad at all).</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Also needing regulation were:</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>The pedal rod</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>The trap-stop capstan(what DO you call that, anyway?)</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>The damper upstop rail</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>The sostenuto rod</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>In the end, the touch weight was around 5 grams lighter, possibly a tad more.  It felt quite good, and all of the dampers had plenty of clearance.</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Would regulating spoons or capstans be far more difficult or offer other pitfalls?</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>This was my first experience with  this particular job, and it came out pretty well, but I'd certainly appreciate any suggestions from those of you who have more experience doing this.</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Thanks,</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Dave (back on the list after being glued to the Tour de France)</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'>Stahl</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black'> </span></font></p> </div> </div> </body> </html>