twangy ... again!

[Jerry Hunt]

I recently serviced a G3 on which the customer was complaining about 2
or 3 notes. Some of the things I found:
1) Regulation problem - adjusted let-off
2) String not seated on bridge pins
3) Sympathetic over-ring on undamped strings in high treble
4) Hammer not hitting string squarely - level strings, file hammer or
burn hammer shank (for those in the Dallas chapter:  "thermally assisted
hammer rotation).
5) Unison out of tune
6) Needled hammer.


Edward Carwithen wrote:
> 
>   I had this problem with another piano, and all of you were so kind to
> offer suggestions about how to deal with a twangy sound.  No I have it
> again, on another piano, but this piano has been a problem in one way or
> another for quite a while.
>    Yamaha grand, owned by church.  The player really hits it!  It needs
> tuning often, but the worst part is that she complains about the sound of
> certain notes... not always the same notes.  Today it was G5.  Sure enough
> there is a twang as the string is struck.  F#5 also to a lesser degree.
> Rest of the piano no problem.  Well, yes there is a problem with D# 5,
> where the upper treble begins.  It has no resonance at all.  Note just
> dies.  I couldn't figure out what to do with that either.
>   Back to G5.  There is a bit of false beat on two of the strings, but that
> isn't the cause of the twang.  I have voiced, checked for loose bolts and
> screws, etc.  I would like to think that the sound is coming from the drums
> behind the piano (they do a lot of gospel type stuff), or the guitar
> strings.  Just can't find anything.  She (the player) is very sensitive to
> the sound and it is major bothered.
>   I am losing my confidence over this animal.  I can't seem to fix it, and
> I don't know what to tell her.
> 
> 
> Ed Carwithen
> Oregon

-- 
Jerry Hunt
Dallas, TX USA