Subj: Mystery #4

[A440A@aol.com]

 Ron  Shiflet writes;

 > The problem is this:  Steinway L, dampers go down with a loud
>*thump*.

When the felt is hard,  this happens.


>4.  My instinct tells me to change the dampers but I'm not totally sure
>that this is the problem.

      Trust your instincts,  Lift the underlevers and drop the dampers, sans
rail.  Put a few new ones on the middle of the bass and compare the sound of
them dropping with the sound of the old ones.  ( this can be a dramatic
demo!)

>5.  Pedals are stiff to push.    The pedals on the Baldwin
>are easier to push and have about twice the downtravel in the pedal.

      This vintage Steinway often had poor geometry in the trapwork.  It
sounds like this is a leverage problem.  You may need to lengthen the
transfer lever,  or change the pivot point.

 >There is a slight distance between the dampers hitting and
>then the tray coming on down to rest on the felts.  I feel there needs
>to be a little more distance here because it seems like the tray doesn'
 >drop quite enough to silence the dampers.

   You want this distance to be minimal with these short damper actions.  As
the gap here increases,  the intrusion of the upstop rail becomes more
apparent.
    What happens is that to prevent the damper levers from becoming trapped
against the rail when the the keys are played with damper pedal down,  you
will have an excessive amount of clearance under the upstop rail when the
pedal is released and the keys are played.  (Feels terrible on mf or stronger
playing)
    The more consistantly  you can get the dampers to rise,  the less gap is
required.
   Measured from the contact point on the key end felt,  the included angle
should be kept as small as possible, ( between lines drawn to the respective
points of rotation  for both the levers and the tray).

    You may have to sell them on the new damper felt first,  but these
vintage grands are prime candidates for the Renner replacement kit.
 Remember,  your standing and reputation are worth far more than this one
job,  don't compromise yourself by trying too hard to make poor geometry
operate efficiently.

Good Luck,
ED Foote