Chickering damper reg.

[Thomas D. Seay, III]

>> On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Les Smith (lessmith@buffnet7.buffnet.net) wrote:

>The beauty of the Chickering damper system is that the lift of all the
>dampers from the keys can be regulated without ever having to remove the
>action from the piano. Just remember to put the stop rail back in position
>after doing the regulation! This damper system is different, but it is well
>thought out and works beautifully once you understand it's operation. I've
>been rebuilding 1875-1930 vintage pianos for 30 years and can assure you that
>there in absolutely NO REASON to "mickey-mouse" this Chickering damper system
>by trying to modify it or replace it with another. Tp do so is to destroy the
>integrity of the instrument and that's what we're supposed to be preserving.
>A vintage Chickering with it's damper system replaced is no longer a Chicker-
>ing, but some sort of hybrid. Those old, turn-of-the-century Chickerings were
>were high-quality instruments, much different from Chickerings seen during
>the last 75 years or so. As such they deserve better treatment than that.
>Once again, the damper system, as designed, works beautifully and it a piece
>of cake to regulate once you take the time to learn how it works.
>
>Les Smith
>lessmith@buffnet.net

Doesn't the fact that the damper wire is not free in the top flange limit
somewhat the amount of fine adjustment you can do with key lift? What do
you do, for example,  if the ideal spot for optimum damper lift with the
key is other than the spot allowed by turning the damper 360 degrees (for
example, 180 degrees)?

BTW, I agree that you can and should preserve the older systems found in
these pianos but by their very nature, they don't seem to be capable of as
fine a regulation as the more modern systems (or am I being way too
picky?).

Regards,

Tom Seay
t.seay@mail.utexas.edu
The University of Texas at Austin