Escapement Issue

[samsonite711]

I've got several keys in the lower register of my Rhodes Mark 2 that have very large escapement, and the hammer tips on these keys barely graze the tine no matter how hard I strike the key. I can't resolve this issue by tightening the screws on the tonebar. I measured the key dip and it is even and consistent across the keyboard so that doesn't appear to be an issue. Pickups are all working fine, bridal straps are all intact, no missing pedestal felts, hammer tips and damper felts are a little worn but seem ok. There are factory-glued wooden strips on the top of the aluminum harp support but no extra shims or anything unusual.

It just feels like these keys don't have the striking power in the hammer action as the functioning keys do. Any ideas what could be the issue?

[conke]

I've got the same problem, also with aluminum supports.

The manual mentions removing the hammer tips, then adding a shim for each hammer. This thread seems to have some suggestions as well.

[sean]

Have you checked to make sure that the hammer flanges are not broken?

Sean

[pianotuner steveo]

Does the harp have thicker shims on the bass side? You said the dip is good, but increasing it a little may help. You need a little more escapement in the bass so that the long tines don't hit the hammer tips while ringing out. They swing a lot.

[tomsrob]

I removed the bass harp shim from both my Mk II and late 70's Mk I. The escapement was pretty huge. There are options for adding thinner shims (VV makes some and there are threads on here suggesting adhesive cabinet repair material from hardware store. Sorry I forget the actual name.) I found I didn't need to. Some say you will experience ground issues with bare aluminum but I have not experienced that.

[pianotuner steveo]

Thin shims can be made from front rail shims (not the green felt ones which are likely too thick)

[conke]

Not OP, but finally got around to messing with my harp supports.

Scraped off the particle board from the top using a wood chisel/exacto. Then removed any excess glue with rubbing alcohol. I added just enough shims so the low notes didn't mute themselves on the hammers.

In the end it was only lowered by 1/32 of an inch but it made a huge difference. The particle board glued on was 1/8 of an inch, so I imagine there is hope for OP with his hammers hardly grazing the tines.

[Ben Bove]

Great.  Also, instead of hammer tip shims, we have the luxury of different sets of hammer tips that Vintage Vibe sells.  The aluminum frame pianos have factory hammer tips that have various heights - shortest in the bass, up to tallest in the wood core.  So, you could purchase the "square tip" older version of the hammer tips from the early 70s, which would be taller, and put those in the bass section.  That would eat up some of the big escapement