<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">   Mark Davidson wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style> I have a 1999 Steinway L with rather heavy action I am looking to correct. Friction has been taken care of (was originally 20-30 grams - now 10-15).Action has been fully regulated which also improved it considerably. Here are some numbers:Balance weight ranges from 38-51g, average about 44.Strike weights are medium in the bass crossing over to heavy in the tenor. Asumming a 9 gram contribuition from the Whippen Weight this yeilds note   BW    FW    SW   SWRC1     46    36    10.9     6.6C2     45    34    11        6.4C3     44    29    10.3     6.2C4     41    32    10.5     6.1C5     42    26     9.8      6.0C6     38    24     9         5.9C7     43    12     7.6      6.0C8     40     7     6          6.3 Looks to me like your leverage is rather inconsistant, perhaps meant to be a bit graduated (I've just seen this on a Petrof recently) If its graduated you want to find out for sure, and I think checking your Key Ratio is a good place to start looking. Maybe for those same 8 notes for reference. David Love has a nice proceedure for setting FWs once you have a nice even curve and even out whatever ratio problem you have. Basically goes along the lines of remembering that BW + FW = [whats on the other side at the capstan]. So if you know the top action is predictable, and where you want it, then you just add or subtract from / to FW to make Balance Weight where you want it. Nice idea if you dont want to pay for a set of FW specs and whatever advantages that has. Hammers are probably more in need of being evened out in general rather then lightened in general. Tho it looks like the higher notes could use a bit of lightening up. I need to get out my charts :) You could use the whippen assist, but you can do quite well without if you are using a SW curve #  8 or below. Still, this is a relatively new Steinway, and I'd expect to see a bit more consistancy from them.  I'd like to see a complete set of numbers on this, checked and double checked.       So I am considering the following: 1. relead keys to bring balance weight to 38g 2. (1) plus move lead closer to balance rail to prevent slower repetition 3. lighten hammers from tenor up (remove felt? drill mouldings? maybe some of each - could use filing anyway)   (piano is in a 10X13 room with hardwood floors so a smaller sound would not be an issue)    4. turbo wippen (either leave leads alone or remove some to make unsprung BW around 50 - how much are these things $$). 5. some combination of above Recommendations? -Mark Davidson</blockquote> Cheers RicB -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. UiB, Bergen, Norway <A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> <A HREF="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A> <A HREF="http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html">http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html</A>   </body> </html>