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<DIV>In a message dated 8/14/05 11:55:17 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
jonpage@comcast.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=
=2>My first
encounter with this new-ish model was two weeks ago.<BR>I'm returning this=
week to file hammers and a few other things.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR><BR>Two e-mails to Kawai tech support didn't yield a reply. W=
hat's
the<BR>hammer blow, dip, let-off specs for this? Action spread too, =
just
for fun.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>
<DIV>Jon,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Kawai is normally pretty responsive. They've undergone some chang=
es
recently, which may affect the response time. Try <A
href="mailto:PMarshall@kawaius.com">PMarshall@kawaius.com</A>. </DIV=
>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't have the specs in front of me, but here's what I usually work
with:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>47mm blow</DIV>
<DIV>2-1 mm let off</DIV>
<DIV>10mm keydip</DIV>
<DIV>Action spread....:-( can't help you on that one. If I'm not=
mistaken, it can't be changed on this--or any current?--model of Kawai.</DIV=
>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That should get you pretty close. Don M. will correct me if I'm
wrong, most likely.</DIV></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR><BR>The ABS action worked well except for a half dozen center=
pins<BR>clicking in the rep lever birdseye. I also had to apply Teflon
powder<BR>to the suede rep lever upstop cushion, it was creaking when
engaging<BR>the drop screw.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I've worked on dozens, if not hundreds of Kawais, and I don't think I'v=
e
ever heard the rep lever pin clicking in the birdseye. I've often=
heard clicking from the wippen, but it's almost inevitably a quick=
squeak from the unteflonned knuckle dropping onto the top of the jack. =
</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR></FONT> </BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>The drop screws start to squeak on the upstop leather on many Kawais af=
ter
a couple of years. I've heard it more often on the less expensive
pianos--a lower grade, perhaps? I think it is a synthetic material.&nb=
sp;
It stays pliable, and is durable, but will squeak if not lubricated. I=
do
this by taking some kind of straight-edge to push down the rep levers so the=
pads are more accesible, then brush on teflon with the sharp end of a felt
mute. It seems to work okay.</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR>Overall a nice piano except for the tight, springy tuning
pins<BR>causing tuning to be a chore, adding more than 30 minutes.<BR>It
probably doesn't help the pins in the block with this piano's<BR>ocean vie=
w,
maybe a 15W DC in the action ??<BR>-- </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I guess I've "grown up" with them, so the feel of the pins has never
bothered me. But I've never done one that lives in a beach=
house, either!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The ABS actions worked pretty well, but the new "Millenium" actions, wi=
th
carbon composite replacing much of the ABS, are among the nicest actions
available, IMHO. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Have fun! I've found that the hammers respond well to shapin=
g
and voicing.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dave Stahl</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>