<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: New Years Resolution</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE>> Once you have the Yamaha free of its swaddling cloth= es > and restraints, it certainly will want a couple of tunings -- > but sometimes I've found Yamaha's regulation is really > good right out of the box </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE> Ooohhh.  I respectfully beg to differ.  I prepared dozens of new = Yamaha grands over the last 6 years, and in my experience, the repetition sp= rings are ALWAYS too strong, and the jack position always needs refinement (= especially after you weaken the springs,) which brings the letoff closer, bu= t usually not close enough, then ya gotta do the drop, then ya gotta make SU= RE the blow distance is at least 46mm and the key travel is a hair over 10mm= . These things above, plus getting the glides right (I’ve talked about = this before) makes a striking improvement in the spielart and tone of the pi= ano. Very satisfying, because I’ve experienced it to be a predictable = outcome every time. David Andersen </BODY> </HTML>