Thanks for the useful video 真的感谢

Thanks for the useful video. Cheers from Muscat, Oman

Thanks Howard, I've been digging and digging with no luck..... Yes, all of the keys do work fine but the action is very sluggish on a dozen or so keys. After watching your videos I really think that were looking at having the felt replaced. Thanks again and I'll let you know how it turns out, we're very very excited to own it!

VERY IMPORTANT!!

you're the best!

The most common cause of a sluggish action is tight hammer flanges. I would start there. Other parts may be tight also, but that would be a good place to start.

Unfortunately it looks like dates of manufacture aren't available for the Gimbel Bros pianos. The only information I was able to find was that these pianos were manufactured in New York. It's possible that parts are still available for your piano if it needs any. If all of the notes work, but are just sluggish to respond it could be that it just needs reconditioning to make it playable. Obviously this wouldn't bring it to the playing of a new or rebuilt piano, but it could make it function much better for you. As for if you should tackle the job yourself, it depends on how much time and effort you're willing to put into the project. If you have more time than money and are willing to learn what is needed in order to get things working it is something that can be done. If you're going to tackle the project yourself I would recommend getting a good book on maintaining pianos. The best one available is "Pianos Inside Out" by Mario Igrec. Another book that is good, but is older is "Piano Servicing, Tuning and Rebuilding" by Arthur Reblitz. Both books are available in our online store: www.howardpianoindustries.com/books-and-videos/ Keep watching for additional videos as we are trying to post at least one a week to keep offering more information.

thank you for this video. I just picked up a G series Yamaha U1. The piano sounds great but wondering how to make the action “tighter.” Dont know how else to describe it. Tighter = more control in the dynamics, able to press very softly and still make a sound. Any suggestions on what adjustment to make?

Great video. I have an older upright that I was having problems with the jack not fully reseating under the hammer butt on some keys when played softly, after quite a bit of troubleshooting, I found the main cause of the problem was no lost motion at all. If there is no jack gap, and if the hammer butt leather has wear in it, what happens is the jack gets "caught" on the hammer butt, and doesn't reseat fully underneath the hammer butt causing an extreme loss in power due to the loss of leverage, or even dead keys (as in my case). It was extremely frustrating playing a soft piece and hitting a key and nothing happens because the jack just slips out from under the hammer butt without even moving the hammer at all. Going through and properly regulating the capstans made a world of difference. I though at first perhaps I had bad or misaligned or weak jack springs, but this turned out to be not the case at all. :)

it would have been good to actually see you make the adjustment

I tried doing this but then arrived at a problem where if I play a note and hold it, there is distortion as if the hammer, or something, is still touching the string. I really like how responsive it made the action but this side effect made it an unfeasable adjustment. Is there something I can do to remedy this?

Are all the backchecks supposed to be even ?

I'm an apprentice for a piano technician, and this is what i'm tasked with now... He's away on a trip, but before he left he told me that right now (In the fall, i live in Norway) It's best to have a itsy bitsy bit of lost motion, because the wood in the piano will start to swell in the weeks/ months to come. It seems thats what you're doing right here... should i leave even a little bit more then you do here? What can you tell me about lost motion adjustments with this in mind

i play with the soft pedal down 90 percent of the time. if i adjust the lost motion with the pedal down, how will it affect the playing with the pedal up?

What can having too much/little lost motion cause to the action? I mean, what difference could the player notice

What is the cause for this decrease/increase of motion? Is it the age of wood? or degrading because of playing?

I have a bobbling hammer and am trying to learn how to regulate the action myself. I have been studying your great videos but my action does not seem to match the action in your video. I have a Kawai upright, and the backcheck and catchers are quite far apart throughout the piano. However, there is no lost motion, the hammer moves with the slightest movement of the key, even though the hammer butt and back check are not in contact. In the other keys, the hammer butts and back checks only come in contact after let off. In the bobbling key, the hammer butt and back check do not contact solidly after let off, so the hammer rebounds and double strikes the strings when playing that key. I am not sure how to proceed, what should I do first?