I'm deducing that John Phillips's British half Duo-Art is an upright,
in which case the hammer travel should be 1-7/8 inches.  One inch is
far too small.  Let's hope his tuner has a happy retirement.

Packing the hammer rail evenly at the standards (action brackets) to
achieve the correct travel is fine, providing it's in good condition
without grooves worn by the hammer shanks, in which case it must be re-
covered in the correct felt and cloth.  Then the shanks will be even,
and regulating the checks and jacks will be easier.

Don't forget that in an upright the hammers at rest sit on the rail,
not on the jack, so that the jacks can just pop back in place easily
under the knuckles (butts).

For the back-checks in an upright to work positively, and not bounce,
the key dip needs to be generous with an appreciable after-touch, so
it's wise to go towards 7/16 rather than 3/8 inch.  Pianos, upright or
grand, with too tight a key dip feel curiously constrained when played
by hand anyway.

In British uprights the hammers often check at nearer 3/4 inch than
5/8.  The checks must be adjusted by bending their wires where they
enter the whippen _and_ under their heads.  Never bend a check wire
just in the middle or only at the whippen.  For this you need to wield
two tools at the same time and hold the lower one firmly to avoid
breaking the whippen.  Push down pairs and sections of keys using a
block or straightedge to see that they all check evenly with all
weights of touch.

Despite the title of this post, the player action should always be
regulated subsequent to regulating the piano action, and not the other
way round.  To stop rebound noise and allow the jacks to re-seat
cleanly, there should be 1/32 to 1/16 inch play between the player
fingers and the whippens, and the finger travel adjusters must be set
to match whippen travel, so that the checks work correctly.

Patrick Handscombe
Wivenhoe, Essex, UK