Upright Regulation Notes

4/4/24
cleaning
● finished cleaning — had trouble getting the red dust out of the action and the under-keys bridge

key easing
● eased key 7's balance hole, everything else seemed fine

squaring
● no squaring issues — ask teacher to look (haven't seen bad squaring before)

spacing
● didn’t adjust spacing — same as above

hammer travel
● couldn't find anything wrong
○ maybe because the spacing/squaring is so (potentially) bad?

4/8/24
problems from last time
● jen checked key squaring, we fixed #85 but everything else was fine
● re:key spacing, jen thinks the spacing issues are caused by loose front pin and balance pin bushings —
was advised to not do any work on them bc there was too many to do in a reasonable amount of time

traveling/burning/spacing
● skipping hammer travel to go right to burning/spacing — they're really bad in some places which is
making it hard for me to see if hammers are actually traveling
● prioritizing string grooves re:TBS, with some exceptions where hammers are making contact with each
other
● post-burning/spacing, can't see any traveling issues

whippen spacing
● prioritizing worn butt leather where possible
● having trouble adjusting 42
● capstan pads seem mostly fine? again, might be another case of havent-seen-it-bad-before

key leveling
● #1 and #87 raised and set to 64mm - this was WAY too high
● debbie suggested setting the guides based on the amount of front pin that goes into the mortise - don't
have time to get that done yet
● punchings placed and labeled on screw sheet

4/9/24
key leveling
● set new keyheight guides based on 5mm of front pin goes into mortise (debbie's suggestion)

1
 ○ balance #1: -3W, 1P
○ balance #87: -1W, 1G, 1P
● new specs
○ key height: 61.5mm (spec: 63mm)
○ balance pin height: 5mm from button (spec: 3mm)
○ front pin: 5mm in mortise (spec: 5mm)
○ keyfront: square (spec: square or horizontal)
● used the crown side of the leveling stick, this seems like a reasonable amount of work
● 4 passes got all keys set lower than the guides, now adding bushings to raise the keys up to level
● 5 passes of raising, still a few that keep going over level — finishing up here for today i think
●
sharps 👍
EOD update: emily came by, had me throw a few more punchings on 3 keys, and said i can move on to

4/11/24
sharp key leveling
● set keyheight guides (#2 and #86) to 13mm above natural neighbors
● did a full pass of lowering, set up for a 2nd pass for tomorrow

4/12/24
sharp key leveling
● did a 2nd and 3rd lowering pass, need to raise
● did 1 raising pass, need to lower!
● several lowering and raising passes later, i think it's about as good as i can get it. onwards...

lost motion again

● started this, didn't get super far (#1-7)
● all hammers have no lost motion due to previous steps

4/17/24
lost motion again
● finished up, some weird hammers that had lost motion but still didn't rest on the rail (#56 is the worst
offender)

letoff
● annoying but relatively quick
● asked jen re:hammers that let off then continued to move as i pressed the key past letoff, she said i
didn't have to worry about it right this second
○ update: it was the backchecks pushing on the catchers!

aftertouch
● starting today, almost certainly will not finish
● next time: set C#4 to the correct keydip — bc its a bit higher than C4 at rest, it should also be a bit
higher than C4 when both are played

4/18/24
aftertouch

2
 ● guides C4 and C#4 set
○ SD: 48mm (maximum SD allowed by hammer rest rail)
○ KD: 11mm (0.400”, a bit under the 0.410 spec)

strike distance
● i need to increase SD more than decrease it and there’s not a great way to do that — the hammer rest
rail is maxed out already
● current situation: the strike distance for the whole piano is maxed out (rest rail is all the way back), but
some hammers are still closer than the C4 guide. the only things i can think of doing are cutting felt for
each individual hammer that is too close (which sounds like an incredible hassle for a very mediocre
result) or replacing the entire hammer rest rail felt with a new strip (i like this idea but it’s definitely
something i’d need permission to do).
○ emily says it’s not something easily fixable on this upright due to age and wear, move on

lost motion III

● finished, no real issues besides #56 still being weird (see yesterday’s notes)

4/22/24
natural keydip
● Having trouble getting a consistent weight when measuring with my dipblock, plus the issues i had with
strike distance are making aftertouch a big issue
○ "done is better than perfect" so i'm just going to move on and live with the bad

sharp keydip
● god i love how much easier this is than natural keydip lmaooo

backchecks
● backcheck guides set

4/23/24
backchecks
● emily says this older piano should be done on a more key-by-key basis, rather than using the procedure
in the book
● not perfect but i don't think i can get it any better, moving on to next

jack stop rail

● no work needs doing

damper spacing and alignment

● the caveat in the book says to only do damper spacing and alignment for dampers that aren't
working/moving properly. i tested every note with a damper and they all worked fine, so i'm going to skip
this part

damper lift to pedal

● mostly looks okay? there were a couple that i fixed but overall seems okay
○ emily pointed out a few more in the bass to fix, otherwise looks good

damper lift to key

● set up the guide string, testing the dampers next time

3
4/24/24
damper lift to key
● i am having a lot of trouble with this step, mostly due to my inability to consistently grab the spoon
● messed up damper 47; it was late and while trying to adjust it i accidentally unseated it; then while trying
to reseat it i messed with it in a way that made it no longer correctly lift to the pedal
○ got it back to almost normal, not going to touch it anymore
● finished; absolutely not perfect but i'd only do more damage if i tried to make it perfect

pedal regulation
● properly adjusted damper pedal lost motion, need to decrease pedal travel bc currently the pedal lifts
the dampers far more than a sharp does

4/25/24
pedal regulation
● damper pedal travel set correctly!
● soft pedal lost motion and travel set
● the muffler rail is missing

bridle wires
● 4 wires needed to be readjusted, easy fix

checkup: damper 47
● going back to try and fix this one
○ jen noticed the liff-to-key was really early, trying to get that set before i go for the lift-to-pedal
● lift to key is a teensy bit early but it's finally seated correctly so i'm just going to leave it

final checks
● listen for bridle wire clicks and correct
● quadruple check lost motion — there was a bit too much on a few keys throughout

Final Specs
● Strike distance: 48mm* see strike distance (p3)
● Key travel (natural): 10.5mm
● Key travel (sharp): set by adjacent naturals at capstan
● Key height (natural): 61.5mm at C4 guide (crowned)
● Key height (sharp): 13mm above naturals
● Letoff: 2-3mm (set to gauge)
● Damper lift to key: 24mm
Comments: this was kind of a monster, mostly because of how worn out a lot of the parts are. There are also
quite a few bits that need to be fixed that I didn’t repair on instructors’ recommendation — namely hammer filing
and key bushings, but there are probably some other parts that could use work. Strike distance was particularly
frustrating because there wasn’t much I could do due to the worn hammer rest rail felt, and damper wire
bending will forever be my nemesis.