Don Mannino wrote: > > The problem can be helped considerable through proper voicing. Level the > strings carefully, seat the hammers carefully, then needle & shape the > hammers for a little softer attack. > > Inserting felt to cut the duplex noise works, but it also cuts the singing > ability pretty dramatically. Voicing the hammers and getting the owner to > accept a little of this sound is the best answer - most fine pianos have > some sound from this area, and good voicing should bring this piano into > line with others. Some months back I was frustrated with this duplex zing on a Baldwin L 6'3". I posted to the list and received many responses on the subject. The only acceptable compromise - and this was after a full week of trying everything - capo bar filing, string and hammer replacement, voicing, tuning, levelling, strike point adjustment, bridge pin and string seating, glue, nail polish, felt punchings on the duplex strings, and finally, Accu-Just pin adjustment (after consulting Kent Webb) - was to weave a thin piece of flange bushing cloth through the duplex, using enough cloth to cover six notes at a time. This achieved two results: 1) it dampened, rather than eliminated the duplex, partially because of the thinness of the cloth, and also, the shorter cloth sections could be slid back and forth along the duplex to find the optimum area of noise dampening and partial re-enforcement. Result # 2 is that this is a totally removeable system, and can be un-done in seconds! Happy Sunday all, Rob Kiddell, Registered Piano Technician, PTG atonal@planet.eon.net
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