My technician wants to add lead weights. Good idea?.

[rohade]

I have an old Erard, from 1940 something I think.

I love it, is a baby grand, however the action always has been different than other pianos, it has no weight leads.

But recently, it was also sprayed with insecticide as I saw a bug and suddently it was perfect, perfect touch if felt easy and fast, I guess the insecticide lubricated a little bit the piano for a coule days, as effect was gone after it.

So I called the technician and he lubricated and regulated almost all the action but it still doesnt feel right so he said he could add lead weights and will end up perfect but even when I waited 30 years to finally be able to buy a Piano, I'm a noobie about it and dunno if its a good idea.

What are the pros and cons of it, do you recommend go for it and add the weights?, right now I even have pain sometimes as the action is a bit hard, but is working correctly as I was with the technician and it looks good every piece of it.

Thanks for the help, my piano is very valuable to me and want to do the best.

[withindale]

What did the technician do to regulate the action and the keys? How long did it take? Were all the friction points fully assessed? Were some temporary weights attached to any keys to prove the proposed solution? Are all the keys equally sluggish, or are some worse than others and, if so, what causes the difference?

[rohade]

A couple hours, dunno if all were addressed but seems so, he used a liquid for the pines, a grease for the wood and graph for the pelts, yeah all the keys feel the same, without dampers is not that bad but i tried putting 60 grams of weight and the key didnt move, are there any negatives of adding lead weights?

[hfmadopter]

A couple hours, dunno if all were addressed but seems so, he used a liquid for the pines, a grease for the wood and graph for the pelts, yeah all the keys feel the same, without dampers is not that bad but i tried putting 60 grams of weight and the key didnt move, are there any negatives of adding lead weights?

When you check down weight you don't add weight till it moves. You add weight and move the key and see if it returns. A nice feeling keyboard for me will have someplace around 50 grams of down weight to hold the key either in suspension or at the bed . 60 or more is getting heavy.

Really the only solution to a heavy down weight is one of two things, lighter hammers and dampers or weight the ends of the keys slightly to compensate, this is assuming that everything is functioning properly. I'd weight the keys personally. I weighted my keys the other way, it was too light, it's at between 51 and 53 grams now in around the middle C area, but that is an easier task to lighten them, you add weight to the hammer end of the keys.

Horowitz's piano was said to be weighted to 49 grams ( pretty light for a Steinway).. Anyone's guess if they used lead though.

[iansinclair]

Seems to me you have sort of answered your own question: you sprayed it (or someone did) with insecticide and it was easy and fast, but now the insecticide carrier has evaporated and it's back where it was.

The insecticide didn't add any weight.  It lubricated things.

So... it wasn't a weight change which made it feel good, it was the lube.

Key weight is a very personal thing.  I prefer a kind of middling sort of weight, but I've never measured it.  Some like heavier.  Some like lighter.  But the point is, if you liked the way the piano played with the insecticide, you fundamentally like the weight.  Don't mess with it!

I would be inclined to get your tech. to continue working on freeing things up.  This may take a fair amount of cleaning and de-gumming, as well as some lubrication here and there.

[hfmadopter]

Seems to me you have sort of answered your own question: you sprayed it (or someone did) with insecticide and it was easy and fast, but now the insecticide carrier has evaporated and it's back where it was.

The insecticide didn't add any weight.  It lubricated things.

So... it wasn't a weight change which made it feel good, it was the lube.

Key weight is a very personal thing.  I prefer a kind of middling sort of weight, but I've never measured it.  Some like heavier.  Some like lighter.  But the point is, if you liked the way the piano played with the insecticide, you fundamentally like the weight.  Don't mess with it!

I would be inclined to get your tech. to continue working on freeing things up.  This may take a fair amount of cleaning and de-gumming, as well as some lubrication here and there.

Good thinking  ! I went under the assumption the tech already did his job but there could be more to do yet. It is important that things are correct as I mentioned in my other post. Make sure it is really a weight issue and not a drag issue.

[faulty_damper]

I'm actually concerned that this tech lubed the pins in an attempt to smooth out the action.  In my experience, lubing pins does absolutely nothing considering the kinds of lube technicians tend to use.

I think the issue may be one of swollen wood putting too much pressure on the pins, hence slowing the action.  So maybe new felt and pins.

[silverwoodpianos]

I have an old Erard, from 1940 something I think.
I love it, is a baby grand, however the action always has been different than other pianos, it has no weight leads.

The Erard action has no lead weights, as this action has its own characteristic touch and performance, similar to the Blüthner patent action.

 

But recently, it was also sprayed with insecticide as I saw a bug and suddenly it was perfect, perfect touch if felt easy and fast, I guess the insecticide lubricated a little bit the piano for a couple days, as effect was gone after it.

Most of the bug sprays would have alcohol as the carrier. This could have shrunk the action bushings for a short time allowing less friction during performance.
As the effect of lubrication was only temporary, subsequent applications will make no difference.

So I called the technician and he lubricated and regulated almost all the action but it still doesn’t feel right so he said he could add lead weights and will end up perfect but even when I waited 30 years to finally be able to buy a Piano, I'm a noobie about it and dunno if its a good idea.

Continually lubricating the action will not work. The action center pins have to be replaced, most likely on the hammer flange and the whippen flange. Possible damper flanges but that can be tested with the dampers released to see if the action plays better with the right pedal engaged.

What are the pros and cons of it, do you recommend go for it and add the weights?

 I would not recommend adding any mass to this action.