Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum spring tension, let-off and repetition

The piano being only 6 months old at this point, I'm simply moving various variables out of the sort of "safety-zone" that all new pianos are regulated at and closer to what I personally like. Getting a tech to sit beside me while I say "a little more of this.... OK now let's try a little more of that" is obviously completely impractical and over-the-top expensive! So I make constant little adjustments all the time on my own, mostly from a3 to c6: "a little more drop on this note"; "a little less let-off on that note". I then play a number of pieces, and I play individual notes... usually at ppp.... I reset ALL the jacks closer to me (more on the edge) and have started playing with spring tension on certain notes, because I DO get a small amount of bobbling or "double=strike" if I try really really hard to reproduce it, even where the drop and let-off are more generous than elsewhere. But I'm talking very, very close drop and let-off: in the 1/64 to 1/32 range, or in the .5mm to 2mm range. I go mostly be feel, then I do a visual check.

Of course, the humidity in the piano room is at a pretty constant 42 per cent; otherwise I'd be wasting my time; at these tolerances I've found that at the odd time the humidity sits at 44-45, the piano feels and even sounds a little different. Not worse, not better, just different.

I do have a really good tech ready at hand, but haven't needed him at all. I will have him in when I've learned as much as I can and adjusted things optimal for ME (as opposed to for the tech!!) Eventually I want to get the take of someone who works on and plays different instruments every day. I don't have that perspective.

Everybody's fingers, technique, and subjective likes and dislikes are a little different. Doing this stuff yourself means you can tweak things EXACTLY the way you want to. Just couldn't afford to do tinkering all day long with a tech by my side either doing it himself or just saying "yah, good; no, bad!!"

Off now to get something to do ultra-fine torque measurements.

I haven't had this much fine since I was into cars in my early twenties. (That ended abruptly with the birth of our first kid.... little thing called MONEY.) Can't do that with new cars, these days. But pianos? No problem, and much cleaner and cheaper to boot.

Have fun as you do, but dont believe it will allow you to have a stable regulation someday.

this is obtained by multiple passes, each new one refining the precedent, so tweaking things as you do yopu may be compensating on one regulation for another which is not good, in the end the action will be strange, as all the oneS I have seen in those situations.

It is just impossible, sorry to say so.

Before tweaking anything a good tech begin to install a very robust regulation, then this one age when the piano plays, and is refined.

AT that time some voicing is done, that is then not correting differences due to uneven regulation.

It is at the same time very simple and not possible without experience. (not to an accepteable musical level)

Just the correct diagnostic is not as easy.

Then for sure the action does not like to be left in a less than good regulation, the ones that say that it is no danger are wrong. Not if you play seriously and regularely


Greetings

"Have fun as you do, but dont believe it will allow you to have a stable regulation someday."

Not terribly interested in "stable" at this point. What I have, after--believe me--microscopic adjustments, is a piano that sounds and feels--TO ME--far better than it did when I purchased it. (Not that I didn't like the feel of the piano when I first played it. I just thought it could be improved.)

Sure, I could pay a tech to give me "stable", but I wouldn't necessarily get the sound and feel that I want. As I said above, that is a highly personal matter. I simply can't afford to pay a tech to do the kind of endless tinkering that would satisfy me. I'd have him in once a week... guaranteed.

"This is obtained by multiple passes, each new one refining the precedent,"

Which is exactly my experience... I discovered long ago that the moment one variable is altered, all the others must be readjusted. Which of course I do, because I'm a fanatic.

"... so tweaking things as you do yopu may be compensating on one regulation for another which is not good, in the end the action will be strange, as all the oneS I have seen in those situations."

But the action is not "strange," it is wonderfully responsive and the sound is beautiful.

"It is just impossible, sorry to say so."

Hasn't been my experience so far. I expect to live a bit longer yet; so I'll update in a few years!

By the way, you did read the above where I said that I would, of course, have my tech contact (who helps to maintain the new Hamburg Steinway at Koerner Hall in Toronto--probably the newest and best piano concert hall in the country) look at my piano and offer advice, corrections, modifications, etc.????

I want to be clear I was not advocating that you pay a tech to sit next to you while you make adjustments. I said that the ideal situation might be apprenticing with a tech. In other words, you work free, help the tech out and learn what he/she has to teach you. Lot's of folks in this profession start out this way. It may be totally impractical for you, schedule wise, I don't know, but it was just a suggestion.

Well if a comptent trained tech see the piano, he may point you to some things you where not aware of, or no....

All depend of tge type of tech and what relation you have.

Anyway on a Kawai there is iven a chance that a Steinway tech does know how to regulate it

For the rest, I have been working behind enough tech with pianists that could not have their piano ideally working (ideally for them) , and the devil is in details but not only.

Aniway the questions you ask show that you have yet a good reflexion time before having an accepteable picture of a basic grand action.

Then only you can begin to understand/discover the specificity of the one you have.

I am not at all opposed that pianists buy a few hundred of tools, but the specialised touch and listening is very long to learn, as for playing you need to practice.

One may also be aware of the limitations of his action.

Good luck