Dennis wrote:

> I wonder what kind of RH changes you and your instruments have to go
> through. In 40 years of harpsichord playing, and many different
> instruments, I've never had to fiddle with dampers or jacks. Nor do I
> know of anyone who has ever had to.

Well, even here in temperate London it can happen that a harpsichord 
gets what we call 'dry winter disease', where none of the dampers work 
because the case sides have shrunk, lifing the keyboard closer to the 
strings. This happened earlier this year to the harpsichord at the 
Handel House Museum, and our little band of harpsichord technicians are 
well aware of the problem. It is more troublesome with doubles than with 
singles simply because the case sides are deeper and any particular % 
shrinkage produces a greater movement.

Adjusting all the jacks individually must be a frightful pain. But there 
is a simpler way: on the double-manual harpsichords I used to make, I 
installed 0.8 mm shims (made from oil-tempered hardboard) underneath the 
keyboards assembly, which can be removed when the atmosphere is dry to 
lower the action. That is generally enough for the kind of variations in 
humidity we get here in temperate Europe.

For the USA, where variations are more extreme, I think the 'lifters' 
would provide a complete solution to the problem.


-- 
Peter Bavington
Clavichord Maker
291 Sprowston Mews
LONDON
E7 9AE
www.peter-bavington.co.uk

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