If the piano is under warranty, you should complain to Steinway.
The Euro/Asian style upright action differs from the old standard American upright action in that the hammer return spring is weaker and sometimes the jack springs are weaker. This makes them more sensitive to several subtle but significant factors involving center of gravity and inertia properties of the action components.
The first to understand is the center of gravity, CG, of the hammer assembly. Modern pianos are using heavier hammers than older pianos and this shifts the CG closer to string plane than when they were first designed which means some Euro/Asian uprights have such a poor CG in the scale portion above the overstrung section that the hammers want to stay against the string. Add to this the weaker hammer return spring and the hammer has a tendency to stay up near the string too long. Thus older actions are different.
The second is that the keystick itself could have return problems because the Euro/Asian upright action that is fitted to taller verticals has a heavier capstan arrangement than the standard American upright, and some makers adjust the heavier touch this produces by adding weight to the front of the key. This adds inertia to the keystick which slows key return.
The third one is the strength of the jack spring. Jack springs are pushing back on the key at all times and if it is too weak the return speed of the key can be too slow.
Then the action itself could have been placed a little too far from the string plane than the design intended and this will worsen the hammer CG issue.
So some of these elements can combine together in a particular piano to tip it over into an unusable configuration. Most technicians are not able to track these elements down and many are not even aware of them. Even inside piano factories!
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Edward McMorrow
Edmonds WA
425-299-3431
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-11-2019 20:24
From: Geoff Sykes
Subject: New Essex - Action Problems
ALL uprights require that you allow the key to return completely to its rest position before you can play that note again. This is nothing new. Your description sounds like the piano only requires some minor regulation. Perhaps, as Wim suggests, adding a small amount of lost motion will be sufficient. That would allow the jack to return to its rest position not necessarily more quickly, but if it is being prevented from returning because of insufficient lost motion then it would allow it to return to its rest position more efficiently.
Being an Essex, the piano was actually manufactured by Young Chang. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But being a new Essex means you probably purchased the piano from a Steinway dealer. That probably means that that dealer sent out a Steinway approved technician to work on your Essex upright. Resisting the urge to comment here, I must nevertheless mention all this as a warning to not just casually bring in some non-Steinway approved tech, RPT or not, to do the minor regulation you require. Steinway will absolutely give you a tough time if they find out about it.
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Geoff Sykes, RPT
Los Angeles CA
Original Message:
Sent: 10-11-2019 13:33
From: Kara Sherwin
Subject: New Essex - Action Problems
Just bought a brand new Essex 123 and am having problem with the action. When repeating a key I've just played, it doesn't "rebound" in time to it's original position so the second, third time you press it, the sound is either non-existent or muted. The sensation is that the keys are "sticking". This happens with many keys, and not all the time.
I'm writing because I'm concerned about the technician's response and want to validate it. I haven't found anything on google to substantiate his claim.
The technician said this problem is with all uprights, and is not specific to any brand or style, because 30-40 years ago across the piano industry, the action was redesigned for uprights and it made this problem more noticeable and worse (something about the spring design changing).
He said either I need to buy a grand (which doesn't have these problems) or I need to switch to a piano that is 30-40 years old. Or I have to lift my fingers up quicker (release the key quicker) before replaying it.
The thing is, I've played over 20 different uprights in my lifetime and have never had this problem before. As well, it doesn't make sense that an entire industry would change something that makes the action worse, and they haven't since changed it back or improved it. I have a hard time believe an entire world of pianists would change their playing technique to accommodate a design flaw.
Has anyone else heard of this? Or can substantiate this technician's opinion? Or do you have any other ideas? I'm concerned it may be specific to the Essex.
Appreciate any thoughts!
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Kara Sherwin
Edmonton AB
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