The Owner's Guide to Piano Repair

Focus On: Regulating the

Grand Piano
Information provided courtesy of:
Duane McGuire, RPT
McGuire Piano
www.mcguirepiano.com
801-896-4123
 The proper touch on your piano depends on it being regulated. To many
pianists, a piano's touch is as important as its tone. Touch refers to the efficiency
and responsiveness of the mechanical action of the piano, and is what is responsi-
ble for giving a piano its full range of power from the silkiest of pianissimos to
the crashing double forte. When a piano begins to lose its mechanical efficiency, it
is said to have gone out of regulation. Exacting measurements and corresponding
adjustments are needed to put a piano back into regulation. The adjustments of
your piano action related to touch have not been attended to recently and are
causing the piano to be less than responsive. A job of regulation is in order.

The following commonly asked questions have been answered to give you the
information you need in order to decide whether or not to have your piano
regulated:
What exactly would cause a piano to go out of regulation? Weren't necessary
adjustments set at the factory?
To a greater or lesser degree your piano would have been regulated at the
factory where it was built. Fine quality instruments obviously receive more atten-
tion than models on the low end of the price spectrum, and as such have a better
touch from the beginning, but even the finest quality piano will go out of regula-
tion over time. To understand the complexity of the grand piano action and the
primary cause of an action going out of regulation, consider the cut-away photo of
the working mechanism (action) of a grand piano on the next page.
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 Pivot Points

The action of a grand piano is truly a mechanical marvel. Even though

it was perfected before the turn of the last century, its remarkable design is still in
use today. Although the operation of a grand piano may seem simple from the out-
side, inside it is in fact highly complex. Just as an accomplished athlete can make
a difficult skill "look easy," the efficiency of the grand piano action makes a very
complicated set of motions seem simple. In fact, it is anything but simple.
When a note on your piano is played, the energy from your finger instantly
puts a carefully balanced system of levers and springs into motion. Five pivot
points simultaneously swing the combination of parts into action. Felt cushions at
all contact points prevent action noise from intruding upon the music produced.
The primary reason that the action of a grand piano goes out of regulation is
that the felt parts (over two dozen per note) which are so important to its function-
ing become worn and compressed with age and use. As this compression occurs,
adjustments to the contact points which were made when the piano was new no
longer are accurate. As this happens, a gradual loss of performance occurs. Lost
motion in the action prevents maximum power from being transmitted from the
keys to the strings when forte is called for. Early release of the hammers causes
misfiring notes when subtle pianissimos are attempted. Double-striking notes be-
come an annoyance. Although the change occurs over time, at some point it starts
to become obvious that the piano is not at peak performance.
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 Regulating your piano will go a long way towards seeing to it that whoever
sits down to play will find it a truly satisfying experience. The piano will perform
with more precision and evenness so that the musician may lose him or herself in
the music. (How nice it would be to have a guest say, "Oh, your piano plays beau-
tifully. Would you mind if I sit here for awhile and enjoy it?)
If other repairs are needed, is it necessary to make them first?
It's highly recommended that all important repair work involving the action
of your piano be completed before the instrument is regulated. That way, the work
will result in the maximum benefit.
One might compare regulating a piano to painting an automobile. If the
body of a car had not been cared for in years and had taken a real beating it would
make no sense whatsoever to take expensive paint and spray it over rust and dents
without preparing the surface beforehand. All important body work would need to
be done before the paint would be applied, otherwise both the labor and the paint
would be pretty much wasted.
In a similar way, if a piano has not been maintained on a regular basis, it
should be looked over carefully to determine what repairs are needed in prepara-
tion for regulating. Hammers may be
badly worn and in need of replacement
(see photo) or shaping. Action parts
may need repairing or alignment. Key
bushings might need to be replaced or
resized. Any repair which would have
an effect on the regulation process
should be accomplished first, before
the time-consuming job of setting ad-
justments is made. Otherwise, a great
deal of backtracking might be neces-
sary down the road when adjustments
which were made once are thrown off by new parts or repairs.
Assuming I do decide have my piano regulated, what will the job involve?
After the action of the piano is removed and important measurements are
taken (string height being the most important), the action itself will most likely
need to be transported to the workshop for servicing. Although it might be techni-
cally possible to do this work in the home, it ordinarily works out much better to
complete a larger percentage of the work in the shop, where a bench is specifi-
cally dedicated to this exact type of servicing. Once in the shop, preliminary re-
pairs and replacement issues may be dealt with before the actual job of regulation
is begun.
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 With the action in the
workshop and on the bench and
preliminary repair work done,
the job of setting all important
adjustments may be done with
extreme precision. Each of the
necessary settings is made for all
eighty-eight notes of the piano,
then checked and rechecked.
Since every adjustment affects
other adjustments, the process is
not a simple "once and done"
procedure, but more a process of
refining the mechanism by going through the complete series of steps a number of
times until everything is at the optimum setting.
A few of the steps involved and their significance are as follows:

Adjustment of capstans to raise or lower

hammer height. Hammer height refers to
the distance from the striking surface of the
hammers to the underside of the strings.
This is set at the optimum distance for the
hammer to swing to achieve maximum
power. Just as the amount of swing is im-
portant to a golfer when he hits the ball, too
little or too much swing when a note is
played on the piano is not desirable.

Insertion of leveling papers to level keys.

Keys should be perfectly level from one
side of the keyboard to the other. The keys
rest on felt punchings, which sit on top of
the balance rail. Leveling papers of differing
thicknesses are then used to bring all the
keys up to level. This is an exceedingly fine
adjustment, with combinations of leveling
papers used to create increments of .001".

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 Adjustment of letoff buttons. The letoff
button releases the mechanism in its upward
motion a split-second before the hammer
reaches the strings. This way, the hammer is
traveling under its own momentum when it
hits the strings, and is not just shoved into
them. This adjustment is made such that the
hammers release as close to the strings as
possible so that when the pianist plays with
an exceedingly light touch, the piano will
respond.

Adjustment of the repetition springs.

Each note has a spring which helps the ac-
tion to "reload" before the next note. This is
done immediately after a note is played but
before the key even has a chance to reach its
rest position. The setting of this spring is
critical, in that too much tension may cause
double striking hammers, and too little ten-
sion will cause a very sluggish or even non-
working note.

Setting the height of the repetition levers.

This adjustment goes hand-in-hand with that
of the repetition springs. The repetition lever
holds the hammer assembly in position so
that the note is always ready to fire. It must
be set ever-so-slightly higher than another
part (the 'jack') that propels the hammer to-
wards the string. This is so that once the
note is played, the jack may slip quickly
back into place.

These are just a few examples of the steps which need to be done.
Depending on the make and vintage of the instrument, up to 40 steps or more may
be involved in the regulation of your piano. Getting all the various settings per-
fectly "in balance" with one another is a lengthy and very technically challenging
process.
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What is meant by the term 'fine adjustment' when regulating a piano? What
is the process that is involved?
Fine regulation involves setting
the distances between parts to standards
that involve very high and precise toler-
ances. In the case of leveling the keys,
for example, very thin leveling papers
may be used (photo right). When this de-
gree of precision is being pursued, it is
understandable that the work can become
quite time-consuming—it is necessary to
constantly check and re-check adjust-
ments. The initial run-through of adjust-
ments will get settings close. However,
as more and more steps are completed,
things gradually shift in position throughout the action, and by the time the first
run-through is finished, it is necessary to go back through for an even finer round
of adjustments. Two, three or even more rounds of adjustments may be necessary
to bring the performance of the piano up to its potential.
Are there other factors which may influence the amount of time needed to
complete a regulation job.
Yes. If the piano has not been serviced for decades, the time required to put
the action back to factory specifications
may be much longer than for a piano that
has been maintained at regular intervals.
Also, if the action is being rebuilt with en-
tirely new parts, more time will be neces-
sary. The rule of thumb is that the more
new parts that are installed, the more time
necessary for fitting and adjustments.
New composite parts being installed in a 125
yr. old piano = much time spent regulating.

How often does a piano need to be regulated?

For everyday pianos, a regulation every 5 - 10 years should be adequate.
Since a piano goes out of regulation as a result of the amount of play, a piano
which is used on a more regular basis will need to be regulated more often than
one that sits idle for long periods at a time. Other aspects of piano maintenance,
such as tuning, need to be performed on a more regular basis.

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 Friction points of a grand action being coated with an action lubricant.

"In business to bring your piano to its full potential."

Information provided courtesy of:

Duane McGuire, RPT
McGuire Piano
www.mcguirepiano.com
801-896-4123

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