Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum feel a flick when letting key up

My piano technician has not responded to my request for service yet, which I am eagerly awaiting. Meanwhile, my question is about a flick I feel on almost all the keys when they are let up slowly, when playing a soft passage. Some of the black keys in the low bass don't do this. I have been tinkering and observed that the jack doesn't have a smooth travel back under the knuckle during release. The jacks are positioned right at rest according to specifications, and the repetition lever button is not low at all. Hopefully the technician will have something to offer, but I can't find much about this on line. Any suggestions?

Sounds like the repetition springs are too strong. That flick is the spring/rep lever lifting the hammer up from check a little too quickly, and you feel the slight bounce when it hits its limit. Ideally the spring should lift the hammer up smoothly when you release the key, but you shouldn't feel anything in the key. It should be a simple fix for your tech.

Many Yamaha grands make a slight but noticeable noise as the jack resets against the resting spoon when the key is released. You can feel it as well.

The only permanent cure is to install lighter, softer hammers which reduces the force needed in the repetition spring which reduces the returning force on the jack, which reduces the noise/bump feel. The piano also plays nicer and sounds warmer and the voicing is much more stable over time and use.

+1 to adamp888. This is common. You should also be able to observe the hammers jumping up when you slowly release the key. When the hammer is in check, a slow release of the key should cause the hammer to rise, not jump.

When I was at Yamaha's Little Red Schoolhouse back in the late 90's, LaRoy Edwards used a funny analogy. He said in Japan if your boss enters your office it is respectful to stand up out of your seat. He said if you jump up too fast your boss might be suspicious, if you get up too slow you will look lazy.

So setting your hammer rise the same as you would get up out of your seat when the boss enters your office is a good rule of thumb. In practice I set the hammers in the bass section a little "lazier" and the ones in the high treble are pretty "caffeinated"!

By the way, if I'm setting repetition springs on a clients piano, I usually do it along with adjusting the checking. As the piano wears, the checking gets further from the strings. Getting the springs and the checking right will really smooth out the feel of the action.

Thanks, especially good to know this is not a totally obscure issue; I worried that its one of those "lethal situations" for the piano, which I otherwise enjoy (except for the buzzing that has stopped now that it is warmer lol). More hopeful now, and I'll follow up with the tech again who must be really busy. My assessment was the opposite from the consensus noted above- I thought the spring might be too weak and keeping the repetition lever from coming up high enough to support the hammer, leaving the jack to wedge itself against the knuckle alone.

Matt