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"Am I correct in assuming that when regulating a piano "one size does not fit all" and that different makes and models have different specs?"

Yes

""Also, I'd like to know what you think of the following statement.
"your pianos' action and tone will be raised to levels above and beyond original factory specifications.""

Depends on how good the tech is. Specs are only specs. Fine regulation is almost an art.

Why are you asking?

It is true that various actions have different regulation specifications. Most of the mass produced pianos like Yamaha and Kawai, are very consistent, and the tolerances for regulation don't vary by much. When you get into the mainly hand crafted pianos like Bechstein etc., each piano can be very different, and you need to regulate the action according to whats right for that piano.
As for you statement, all pianos whether brand new or older, can benefit from a complete regulation and voicing beyond how they left the factory.

Curry wrote:

"and you need to regulate the action according to whats right for that piano."

I agree. 1/64th of an inch of variance in dip can make a world of difference. And that's just one adjustment. "What's right for THAT piano" is very well said. Different adjustments affect each other, the experience/talent/feel needed to make them all work together is what separates a good tech from specifications. Specs are only to get you started if you are not sure, a good tech will get an action going without specs.

Even with Yamaha, Kawai etc..., every model with it's own set of specs can be improved. Pianos are like people, there is not one that is the same.

Actually, regulation standards don't vary by much from piano to piano. They tend to be especially close among different models by the same manufacturer.

Pianos leaving the factory are regulated to withstand a variety of climates. They are regulated with built-in safety factors, such as wider let-off, extra drop, and jacks that are a little too far under the knuckles, etc. so they can be played even after drastic climate changes. Since they are not in their optimal regulatory state, they should be more finely regulated after they get to the dealer's floor.

Rick, sorry to hear about your experience. What kind of piano do you have? While voicing and regulating can make great improvements to a piano, you cannot guarantee an inexpensive or consumer grade piano to sound or perform like a Bechstein or Steinway.

Maybe you should get another tech to take a look at it and give you another oppinion.There are some very good technicians in the Denver, Boulder, and Ft Collins area. If anything else, it might give you peace of mind.

FWIW I regulated a piano yesterday that belongs to a music teacher, a 91 Young chang, now this can not have been right sometime between assembly and "prep" by the dealer that sold it to her. The action spread was incorrectly set so the jacks were too far forward, the capstans were all set too low so giving a shallow touch and now over time - blocking hammers with incorrectly set let off buttons. 1) I'm amazed that it was sent out like this, 2) that no other tuner commented or saw this in the last 16 years, 3)I didn't notice it whe I tuned it for the first time last year.

Anyhow, for me it was working ok that time (3)and I didnt pay too much attention to it as it was just another piano to tune that day. Only when I had to open it up last week to fix a loose glue joint that I saw all this, so I guess I'm not as perfect as I think I am, and if you don't tell people whats wrong they think its normal :p


Customers last two words to me when playin it - "it's fantastic"

Hey Brian, is this a case of "growing brackets?" Sure sounds like it!

Yeah Brian, you have expanding action brackets. A year from now the hammers will be blocking again. The problem was warrantied by the action manfacturer. I'm not sure where you can get new brackets but it only takes about six hours to change a set. Samick bought Young Chang, I think. Check with them.

kpiano

Get those brackets changed before they grow so much the drop screwa are in contact with the pinblock. The job gets considerably harded at that point.

Dale

I've serviced many young changs here but have never encounted the expanding brackets that I've seen reported in the US. My observation of the brackets did not appear that there was such growth.

Now, with an old Bluther from the 1920's the brackets had expanded and cracked apart.

These brackets seem to grow faster after they get started. I bet you get a call back in six months about blocking hammers. Especially since they weren't blocking the first time you tuned it. You would have noticed blocking hammers. Measure the action spread from wippen center pin to hammer flange center pin. If it's more than 112.5 mm those brackets are growing.

Kpiano

Will let you know by December

"Growing brackets"? You better believe it, Brian, if it is a Young Chang. The symptoms you describe are classic. I can't imagine, myself how metal could change shape over time but I guess if it can happen, it will and it sure has on many a Y-C of the vintage you speak. You can't regulate your way out of it either, you have to get new action brackets and start all over.

"Regulate by numbers"? Could well be that a well meaning but insufficiently experienced tech tried to do what he (she) thought was right but wasn't really at all. The finest techs always talk about the ultimate importance of what is called "after touch". It means what takes place after escapement ("let off"). Many other regulating adjustments affect how much after touch there is. While there can be a range of tolerance, with all of the other regulating specs seeming correct, either too much or too little after touch will make the action feel bad, probably like there is some kind of timing that is not right (too soon or too late).

Incidentally, one other regulating spec which is often overlooked is the Damper Stop Rail adjustment. This is done inside the piano, not on the action itself. The same applies to the above, if all else is right but this adjustment is either too high or too low, it will make the action feel terrible.

The others are right in saying that as most pianos leave the factory, the regulation isn't quite optimum but it is set to allow for both compression and wear of the materials. The piano action is a machine which depends upon fairly precise geometry. Each key is a lever which moves a small piece of an arc, the wippen is an assembly which also moves a small piece of an arc. The wippen itself has two levers of its own, each which move in a small piece of an arc and finally, there is the hammer assembly which again moves that small piece of an arc. All of these arcs have to have their movement defined and controlled properly and they all have to be within a very narrow range of distance from each other for them to work at all.

The situation Brian described is one where the metal brackets which hold all of the moving parts have changed their shape since the piano was manufactured. Weird, huh? You bet it is. But the result is that these arcs are not meeting each other within workable bounds. This is a very unusual condition (except in this instance where many have been reported) but similar circumstances arising from other situations have been known to occur.

Your action parts are made of wood which can also be unstable. (The one large advantage to the ABS plastic parts some manufacturers are using (notably Kawai) is that their action parts are far more stable and consistent than wooden parts.) All of these wooden parts have to connect to each other and naturally, if it was a matter of wood on wood, it might be more stable but wood itself would also wear and it would make a lot of noise. So, there must be some kind of soft material in between and that will usually be either felt or some kind of leather (possibly a synthetic). All of these materials support and fill out the dimensions required for the machine to work but by their nature, they compress and ultimately change their dimension.

Also, the hammer itself wears down. It will wear whether a technician files it or not. Filing will not accelerate the wear of the hammer. But as it wears, it becomes smaller and thus changes dimension. All of these altered dimensions are the reason for regulation being required on a case by case basis. Concert pianos require constant maintenance. Home pianos are usually regulated with at least some tolerance for expected wear and compression. The most important quality is how *evenly* it is done. The pianist wants to have the same response from each key. This desire has no particular boundary to it. It will mean something different to each pianist.

One big mistake I always see with well meaning but novice techs is at the very first step they take in setting up a regulation. All of the books and manuals say to set the "blow distance" (the distance from the tip of the hammer to the string while the hammer is at rest) first, at some exact specification. (That specification does not usually vary much from piano to piano, neither do any of the other standard specs). So, a heroic attempt is made at getting this "right" (I won't get into how and why all the mistakes are made) but it usually ends up with the blow distance being far too short. All of the other regulation specs can still be put in order after this one big BOO BOO but the results can be very unsatisfactory, especially if extreme compromises have been made to compensate for the, can I say, "original sin"?

In the case of this Estonia, I would recommend finding a tech who can put it in *optimum* tuning, regulation and voicing for the state which it is in right now. You may have to interview a few people before you decide. Find out their background but don't be too inquisitive. Just see if other important interests know and attest to his/her reputation.

The Estonia grands are known to be quite fine pianos among both technicians and owners. There is no particular brand that has not had its problems. Find the right tech and he will make it be the instrument it was meant to be.