Keith A. McGavern wrote: > > Dear List, > > Does anyone have information pro or con on removing the hammer flange rail > cloth and its effects on the regulation of the action? (One thing is > apparent, the relationship of the flanges and its attached parts does > change with the cloth removed.) > > Keith A. McGavern, RPT > kam544@ionet.net > Oklahoma Chapter 731 > Oklahoma Baptist University > Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA Edward McMorrow"s book' "The Educated Piano", copyrighted in 1989, has the following to say on page 92: "I remove and discard this strip of cloth from the hammer rail if present. Several Steinway tone regulators have told me that it helps damp the transmission of hammer impact noise into the rest of the piano. This sounds like a reasonable argument, but I have tested it several times and cannot hear any difference with or without the cloth. Besides, with the flange screw there to act as a conduit for noise energy, I don't see how this damping can work. the problem with the cloth is that it compresses over time and creates problems with the hammer travel and spacing, especially given the self-sticking pressed felt Steinway presently uses. Many Steinways from the 1950s and early 1960s were made without any hammer rail cloth, so someone at Steinway must have agreed with me at one time." Travis Gordy, RPT
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