Grand Regulation

Hello Piano Technicians!

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 starting at around 3:30 (technical starts at around 4:15) at Hilbert Pianos in Bristol.

Please RSVP by replying to this email or calling 802-453-3743 (Hilbert Pianos) 40 Pleasant St, Bristol,VT. If you need directions, please reply and I’ll be happy to provide them to you. If the driving conditions are questionable on the day of the meeting, please call the Hilbert’s to see if the meeting is still on.

These opportunities can often come with a price tag, please take advantage of this FREE opportunity to improve and refine your skills.

Here is a description of the program, as described by Ed Hilbert:

JANUARY 12th: Part One

“As for this Tuesday, Emily and I will both be in the shop and can be available to any and all who would like to come and work on any aspect of piano work in which we may be able to help. In other words, have an open, hands-on for any who come. If we are lucky enough to have any of the more experienced technicians come then they too can share their pearls of wisdom.

If you are able to come, please email me or call (453-3743) to let me know you are planning to come. If you have a particular project or idea you wish to work on, let us know about that and we'll try to be prepared to help you with your particular interest. We'll be glad to see as many of you as can make it. We'll be here pretty much all day, but certainly from 3:30 (our regular starting time) on.

First, we should discuss basic concepts of how an action works and why it is designed as it is. We can discuss the artist's needs for control which includes ESP = Efficiency, Speed, and Power (the action conveying the artist's desires, repetition speed, and dynamic level range. How has the modern action evolved to answer these needs?

FEBRUARY, 9 2010 Part 2

The second presentation deals with what needs to be considered and done to many actions before they are really ready to be regulated. In other words, prep work such as cleaning, restoring proper friction, shaping of hammers, replacing or reshaping various parts (knuckles, wippen cloth, regulating button cloth, etc.) Only when this work is done is an action really ready for high level regulating.

MARCH 9th, 2010 Part 3

The third session would be actually going through the regulation procedure. Also, a discussion on the minimum and maximum parameters of various measurements and what happens when these get out of range - such as hammer blow, key dip, after-touch. etc. Jigs and tools to make the work easier and more accurate can be shown and explained.

April 13, 2010 Part 4

In the fourth session, we can discuss trouble shooting of various problems. While many of the common problems in actions not working well are cleared up in the preparation work and regulating, often actions just don't work properly because something fundamental (but not obvious) is wrong. This could include problems such as action geometry not being correct (think of parts that have moved, pot metal action brackets that have changed, etc.), incorrect parts having been installed by someone else previously, poor quality parts not functioning well, etc