Ok ... thanks to all for the helpful advice. I have scheduled a service appointment during which I intend on starting with the simplest remedies before the more invasive ones. Thanks, too, for jogging my memory on Steinway's spec. re: damper wires bearing lightly against the bushing. That tidbit was buried deep in my memory bank ... polite way of admitting 'I forgot'. I somehow still like the idea of minimal free play in these bushings but realistically, it shouldn't make a difference. Apart from the symptoms I mentioned in my original post, another annoyance that comes and goes is the damper wires buzzing against the closely spaced low-bass bichords. Is it possible that, with the wires regulated to bear against the bushing, they may not be centered between adjacent unisons ... and if so, would it be permissible to make a slight corrective bend just above the guide rail (but below the string plane). Or would this simply be compounding the error? Finally, I still find it challenging ... more so on some pianos than others ... to 'pinch' the lower end of damper felt wedges (bichord and trichord) to neatly slip between the strings of a unision. Out of the package they generally seem to just sit on top of the strings without actually wedging down between them. I do have damper felt pliers (purchased from Jürgen at Pianofortesupply.com) for teasing these felt wedges into more of a 'chisel' point. On this particular Steinway B, the bass bichords are so thick and closely spaced that it seems no amount of squeezing the dampers helps them wedge decisively between the strings. Any advice on this issue? Stan On 21-Nov-09, at 2:30 PM, Stan Kroeker wrote: > Dear Colleagues, > > Am regretting not replacing damper guiderail bushings on a recent > Steinway (1976 B) parts retrofit. The new damper action installed > smoothly and required only minimal re-bending of damper wires. > However, in spite of careful attention to proper alignment and > seating of bichord and trichord damper wedges, I can't seem to > eradicate an 'oink' together with longer-than-satisfactory 'ringing- > on' of most dampers in this part of the scale. > > There is actually quite a bit of free play in the guiderail > bushings ... you can see the damper head wobble when the key is > struck. Am kicking myself for neglecting this important interface > but, short of rebushing the rails, has anyone had success with > moistening the bushings in hopes of swelling them back to acceptable > tolerance? I sometimes do that with moderately compressed > keybushings ... would it work on these as well? If so, would you > mind sharing the procedure? > > Thanks and best regards from the Canadian prairie! > > Stan Kroeker, RPT
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