S & S upright

[Steven B Moore]

----------
> From: TrptPlayer@aol.com
> To: pianotech@byu.edu
> Subject: S & S upright
> Date: Thursday, September 05, 1996 6:45 PM
>
> I've just come in from looking at a S&S upright circa. 1893.  This
instrument
> is in very good condition, except for the pearl white paint job.  The
first
> three dampers and their levers. etc. are missing.  There are several
others
> that are broken.  Do you know of a source for these parts?  Any
particular
> cautions that I should know about before trying to replace the dampers?
The
> sostenuto bar seems like a possible source of trouble.
> Any hints or help can be E-mailed to me  @  trptplayer@AOL.COM
> Thanks    Tom Thompson     Assoc. member   PTG

Tom,
Well, would you believe I was just talking about that a few hours ago with
my roommate.
My mother's 1891 S&S is in my livingroom waiting repair to some of the
broken dampers.
I have ordered some replacements from APSCO but they don't line up quite
right. I am fearing that I will have to make them myself which will be a
real PAIN due to the narrowness of them needed to fit into the tiny metal
mounting brackets.  The other solution that I am thinking about is to
redesign the damper rail slightly to accomodate a more standard lever.
This is not a preference-- I want to maintain the histerical correctness
:)  as much as possible, but in light of such an obvious design flaw as
this appears to be, I may have no other choice.

One other consideration is to make sure that your damper springs are ONLY
as tight as they have to be to do their job. (If you intend to replace
them.) I actually am sorry (I think) that I replaced them on Mom's but they
seemed so loose that both I and my boss (who was over seeing the project)
thought that they needed replacing. I think that this is the main reason
for some of these breaking, besides being designed TOO THIN!

Anyone have any more experiances with these?

Steven B. Moore
Greenville SC USA--