I have a new RX-3 but I feel I have a voicing inconsistency ona specific note – A2. It’s close to the transition but I don’t think that is the issue.
My findings:
• From C2 to G2 the is smooth and when keyed hard it becomes also bold and punchy. Becomes more “guttural”. Fine. If i could describe it by words, I would say it is like “Hoom”
• A2, as similar tone in “piano”, but becomes harsher without becoming bold and punchy. The sound is not intense as it should be. It sounds something like “Heeee/Haaaa”. Diferent tone and not managing properly the intensity.
• From a spectral analysis standpoint – tunelab pro - it lacks low harmonics and has an accent on the treble.
Conclusion: on mezzo-forte and above the sound loudness does not follow the desired intensity, it becomes more harsh, less (not actually ) punchy and bold. Sounds like a “Haaaaa”.

I think I'm getting oversensitive and it is now hard to play without paying a lot of attention to this specific note.

I have to call the technician that supports the dealer, but from his behaviour in the first tuning I don’t feel confident giving him my piano without having a different opinion.

Your advice and comments would be pretty much helpful

A small amount of upper shoulder needling will most likely make the sound bloom and bring out the lower partials.

Before ANYONE sticks a needle in, check the fit of the hammer to the string....
The sounds you hear are probably harmonics and overtones caused in the same way as on the node (ie octave) of a guitar string when you touch the surface of the string with your finger and then play the note.
The hammers are not hitting square....maybe.... :0(

Good luck

I don't know tune lab but can it show out of phase strings? Of course check that the hammer is mated to the string.

Lack of fundemental and high partials indicates a slightly too hard of a tip. Kawai Don can explain the needling used on Kawai hammers and why this is not uncommon with Kawai hammers. He might have already in a previous post. It is easy to fix. Putting Kawai in the heading of the post usually gets his attention. He was Kawai Americas technical person. I think he got a promotion.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Keith Roberts:
[QB] I don't know tune lab but can it show out of phase strings? Of course check that the hammer is mated to the string.

Thank you for the comment.
In Tunelab we can only barely see the sound spectrum- fundamental and it harmonics. We cannot see in/out-of phase of the harmonics, except the partial of the note being tuned.

The hammer is mated to the hammer, and also the strings are sitted to bridge.
I'm pretty confortable to do all the regulation and tuning, but I absolutely avoid the voicing process. Its a point of no return that I cannot afford with my Kawai.
I choosed it (and I'm happy) against standard local market opinion (Portugal) which is Yamaha, Yamaha, and ..Yamaha oriented. Actually, I think it happens about the same in all continental Europe.
Thank you, Jose Henriques.

A defective bass string .... is not that rare, as a defective hammer mating to string, as a defective shaping, as a defettive key bed mating, andd so on.

Peolple tend to symplify thinhs taking apart voicing, tuning, regulation on one side, parts quality and installation on the other.

They are a whole.

SOryy it it does not help much.

As for people that prefer Yamaha to kawai there are also reasons, but that does not mean they don't prefer other brands to Yamaha's in a particular circonstance .

Greetings,
The first thing to do is to determine if the problem in the string or the hammer. If you have a longitudinal wave problem in this string, you will never fix it by hammer work.
Take the hammer off the note next and try it on the problem string. If the sound is still there, it is NOT the hammer.
As far as the store tech's abilities, trust your instincts, they are telling you something.
Regards,

Thanks Eddie, great idea on swaping the hammers to test if the effect persists.
I likelisten my instincts to take decisions. 40.000.000 years of human evolution should count for anything :-)
Best, Jose

Hey ZeH...you stole my logo :-)

Actually, we're both stoling his (SWC) logo

Thank you eveybody for your helpull comments.
Actually I found the problem and I would like to share the solution with our community:
The string agraffe (double wounded note) was not absolutely square to the string. It was 92º. Now it is 90º and the sound is normal.
Rgds, ZeH