I recently purchased a 1960-70's vintage Paolo Soprani CBA [C]. Excellent condition with no visible wear, all notes & mechanics work like new.
When I started to play on it [Rank Beginner], I discovered the trebel buttons, when fully depressed, would travel well below the surface of the button board. I read somewhere that a poster preferred a certian box over another because "the buttons traveled less and allowed faster, smoother play...". I removed the bottom access cover for the buttons and discovered two layers of "bubble envelope", complete with the addrerss on a shipping label of the seller. Obviously a really hokey repair attempt.
I thought about it and fetched an old computer mouse pad I had, cut it to fit under the base of the buttons, cloth side up, and stuck it in place. The travel of the buttons was cut in half and the stiff foam body of the pad absorbs the impact noise and cushions the key stroke. The improvement was dramatic, as might be expected. While the pad REALLY helped, it's thickness [which is the determing factor in how far the buttons travel] was just a little bit shy of what I wanted, which brings me to my question:
What is the ideal [realizing this is a subjective issue] travel for the buttons on a CBA?
At present, my buttons travel approximately 1/20th inch [1mm] below the board surface. I find that the edge of my thumb gets irritated by contact with the sharp edges of the button holes. To remedy the situation, I will be finding [Ever try looking for mouse pads lately? They've disappeared from the face of the earth, even in yard sales] either a slightly thicker pad or a real thin one and build the thickness up to the preferred height [read: key travel].
I have fooled around with the "button travel vs volume produced" and discovered that the pallet is sufficiently open when the button is depressed halfway between the closed [static] position and button top flush with the board. That suggests that the buttons could be "adjusted" to a position where the button would stand 50% proud from the board. I suspect that somewhere in between would provide the best results.
The buttons on my box are of the "Mother-of-Pearl" plastic type. They are nicely rounded on the edges and slightly domed in the middle. I'm thinking the ideal "setting" would be to limit the travel of the buttons where the top edge of the board would align with the beginning of the edge radius on the button. The buttons would then stand proud of the board by approximately .100" [2.5mm]. This would facilate glissando slides by bringing the button tops close to the board surface, but insure they remain a little proud to receive finger pressure equally. Limiting the travel would also reduce finger travel resulting in faster "press" recovery and faster playing. Speed isn't my issue at the moment, but, I like to adjust my "stuff" to my liking and grow into it.
Any experience/opinions on button travel??
When I started to play on it [Rank Beginner], I discovered the trebel buttons, when fully depressed, would travel well below the surface of the button board. I read somewhere that a poster preferred a certian box over another because "the buttons traveled less and allowed faster, smoother play...". I removed the bottom access cover for the buttons and discovered two layers of "bubble envelope", complete with the addrerss on a shipping label of the seller. Obviously a really hokey repair attempt.
I thought about it and fetched an old computer mouse pad I had, cut it to fit under the base of the buttons, cloth side up, and stuck it in place. The travel of the buttons was cut in half and the stiff foam body of the pad absorbs the impact noise and cushions the key stroke. The improvement was dramatic, as might be expected. While the pad REALLY helped, it's thickness [which is the determing factor in how far the buttons travel] was just a little bit shy of what I wanted, which brings me to my question:
What is the ideal [realizing this is a subjective issue] travel for the buttons on a CBA?
At present, my buttons travel approximately 1/20th inch [1mm] below the board surface. I find that the edge of my thumb gets irritated by contact with the sharp edges of the button holes. To remedy the situation, I will be finding [Ever try looking for mouse pads lately? They've disappeared from the face of the earth, even in yard sales] either a slightly thicker pad or a real thin one and build the thickness up to the preferred height [read: key travel].
I have fooled around with the "button travel vs volume produced" and discovered that the pallet is sufficiently open when the button is depressed halfway between the closed [static] position and button top flush with the board. That suggests that the buttons could be "adjusted" to a position where the button would stand 50% proud from the board. I suspect that somewhere in between would provide the best results.
The buttons on my box are of the "Mother-of-Pearl" plastic type. They are nicely rounded on the edges and slightly domed in the middle. I'm thinking the ideal "setting" would be to limit the travel of the buttons where the top edge of the board would align with the beginning of the edge radius on the button. The buttons would then stand proud of the board by approximately .100" [2.5mm]. This would facilate glissando slides by bringing the button tops close to the board surface, but insure they remain a little proud to receive finger pressure equally. Limiting the travel would also reduce finger travel resulting in faster "press" recovery and faster playing. Speed isn't my issue at the moment, but, I like to adjust my "stuff" to my liking and grow into it.
Any experience/opinions on button travel??
