Action Work by Chris Brown, RPT of Concord Piano
Action services are not generally separated out from other piano services in our trade. In The Piano Rebuilders consortium, they are closely coordinated by Chris with Mike Morvan's key work, Kevin DeSano's refinishing, and Jude Reveley's belly work, but they take place in their own shop. Further, they represent the last stop in the work pipeline for TPR rebuilds. Not only is the action restoration done in Concord Piano's shop, but also the actions are installed there, with all that goes into completing the overall job.
Chris Brown's action shop has distinct areas for different functions: a basement with outdoor access and ventilation for compressor, dust collector, beadblaster, and the spraying of parts that require a finish, a finished basement area for storage, the rebuilding shop, a fitting and installation area, an office, and a showroom.
Tools, machinery with jigs and fixtures, storage racks, and benches populate the shop area. All manner of standard and custom preparation of parts, their assembly, and their bench regulating takes place in here: careful centerpinning for even and appropriate friction, meticulous hammer shaping and part adaptation, fine action balancing.
The actions receive best parts, materials, and attention. They are specially prepped and when assembled, great care is given to spacing, squaring, and traveling. Chris's method of action balancing (weigh off), by evenly tapering down-weights, up-weights, and inertia from key to key and from bass to treble, also helps fine tune frictional resistance.
Chris's custom designed Regulation Station tools allow the majority of work to be accomplished out of the piano, on the bench with advantages of good access, adequate light, and beneficial ergonomic conditions. These tools (now available to the trade) make the action work both more accurate and more efficient. And they help maximize the action's power, its speed of repetition, and the range and musicality of the piano's voice.