Dampers upright vs. grand

[1piano4joe]

Hi all,

Are the dampers any faster in a grand piano than an upright piano?

I know repeats are faster because of gravity and the key doesn't need to return all the way but I want to know if a single note can be played shorter on a grand piano.

If this is true, would it then follow that a staccato passage could in theory be played faster on a grand piano than an upright?

I was just wondering, Joe.

[hfmadopter]

A decent quality grand piano in my experience is just going to have better action than most common uprights. This is my experience. Everything about the action is better all around. If there is no other reason to own a grand I would prefer it just for this one reason alone. But there are more reasons, at least to me. You would have to pick very carefully through many uprights to be able to compare. You have to play them to tell the difference, can't explain it. And this is not saying that there aren't some good uprights out there.

Lets put it this way, I would take out a loan to own a good grand piano but would not consider doing so to own any upright regardless of brand or quality.. But that is me. I won't even get into damper function mechanically. But FWIW, not just the hammers but grand dampers ride vertically too. You can work them very very finely with good adjustment. Like just barely feather them for a certain effect.

My suggestion, take a trip to some piano stores and play all sorts of pianos. be careful you don't fall in love !!

[withindale]

Actually you can repeat as fast as you can on a grand on a suitably regulated upright without returning the key all the way. Of course that's not the normal way to regulate most uprights except for some models from Fandrich, Sauter and Steingraeber.  

[j_menz]

Actually you can repeat as fast as you can on a grand on a suitably regulated upright without returning the key all the way. Of course that's not normal on most uprights except for some models from Fandrich, Sauter and Steingraeber. 

Then that's not a "suitably regulated upright", it's an upright with the right action. 

[withindale]

Then that's not a "suitably regulated upright", it's an upright with the right action.  

Thank you for that point. To clarify, what's not normal on a normal upright is to regulate it so that it can repeat easily. I have edited my post from "not normal on most uprights" to "not the normal way to regulate most uprights".

The trick is to catch the hammer close enough to the strings. That allows the jack to reset and be ready to play the note again as soon as you start to release the key. My 1925 Schiedmayer is regulated like that. It has a Renner action with none of the extra springs and magnets you'll find in the Fandrich, Sauter and Steingraeber models I mentioned.

[indianajo]

There are **** uprights suitable for grandma to play a few favorite hymns on.  There are uprights suitable for playing any piano literature except that requiring a working middle pedal with individual note sustain.  I own two of the latter, and play several others in churches I visit.  
One of my qualification tests for considering purchase of an upright console or studio piano, is to play a single note with the fingers of two hands, as fast as possible.  This is way over 200 bpm in my case. On a good day I'm playing the trememlos in Lingua Mortua about 16 bps or about 960 bpm. I can do that with two hands too on one note.    I own a 1982 Sohmer 39" console and a 1941 Steinway 40 console. the three pianos that I play out that are suitable for my repretoire are a fifties and a sixties Baldwin Acrosonic consoles, and a seventies Wurlitzer console.
Other brands can be suitable. Baldwin Hamiltons are the budget model, but they didn't save money on speed, they just left out 6 dampers shortened the strings and used a cheaper soundboard and case.   Mason & Hamlin, Chickering, Story & Clark have good reputations, but I've never encountered any in my playing.   In pre depression actual uprights, there are hundreds of suitable brands, because before the depression pianos were built locally out of kits from wholesellers.  The quality is not indicated by the brand name, you just have to test it yourself.  
finding a $200 piano that can meet ones needs is an adventure in shopping, but very rewarding once you get it home and do the necessary repairs.  Not usually the repairs school and performance hall pianos get, because most of these old pianos have at most a few hundred hours on them, not the thousands of hours that school and performance hall pianos get.  Many old pianos have hardly been touched, the purchaser was in love of the idea but wasn't willing to practice to achieve it.  The tuning is often horrid, and sometimes like my Steinway there is one note that may need a little mechanical adjustment.  none of the damper and hammer regulating is usually required that I read about on here so often.  That is for high use pianos, IMHO.  
If you want some confirmation, look at TV shows involving JoAnn Castle of Lawrence Welk band, or Billy Keys of the latest Lynyrd Skynyrd band roster. Both take old beater uprights and do amazing right hand tremelos of alternating notes.   Ms Castles pianos are so cheap they paint them a different color every week.