Damper "shooshing" noise

[bases-loaded@juno.com]

 Jeannie & Rand -

I have forwarded below the response posted by Ed Foote on this very
subject not long ago (8/23/99) when I asked the exact same question. 
Some interesting ideas to be sure!  

  Greetings, 
   That swish is like a bunch of little violin bows being pulled across
the 
strings. Three things that have helped me:
    First is, as the others mentioned, trim the felt to go no farther
than 
the bottom of the strings. 
    Then, clean the plainwire strings where the wedges go.  This means 
pulling the dampers out and using  a soft cloth with Brasso or similar
metal 
polish to clean the inner sides of the strings where the wedges rub on
their 
travels up and down. Polish them thoroughly (top and bottom included)
with a 
fresh clean cloth.  Follow this with a rubbing of clean, soft cloth that
has 
a light dusting of teflon powder on it.  
    The felt, if not replaced, can be resurfaced with a strip of320 or
400 
grit wet or dry sandpaper, but run it over the edge of a piece of glass 
first, to knock loose any grit that may want to come off.  I do this 
resurfacing with the felt in the strings and just lightly dragging the
paper 
backwards and forwards with the weight of the damper and its underlever 
supplying all the pressure. The middle string's felt surface is done by 
folding a thin strip of the paper into a wedge and then laid over the
middle 
string.  Lift the damper, push the wedge under, and drop the felt down on
it. 
pull it out carefully once or twice and you will have done all you can
do. 
    Sometimes there is still noise, and you will have to tell them that
the 
piano is so "alive" that the strings react to anything!  
Good luck, 
Ed Foote 

On Sun, 7 Nov 1999 08:16:09 -0800 "Jeannie Grassi"
<jgrassi@silverlink.net> writes:
> Dear List,
> Even though this topic has been covered before, your answers to the 
> question
> following might prove helpful for Journal readers.  Any new or 
> repeated
> information for Rand on this topic is appreciated.  Thanks, as 
> always, for
> your help.
> 
> Jeannie Grassi, RPT
> Assistant Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
> mailto:jgrassi@silverlink.net
> 
> from Rand Reeves:
> 
> A local recording studio called me in to look at a problem they've 
> been
> having with a Kawai GS-40 with excessive damper noise when the pedal 
> is
> engaged.  I of course checked for all other noise sources, but the 
> only
> sounds I hear are that "Shooshing" noise as the dampers lift as a 
> unit.
> They
> are lifting evenly, and seem to be regulated well.  This is a 
> sensitive
> situation, of course, since they put mikes right up against the 
> strings for
> recording.  I do not feel this would be an issue in a home 
> situation, or
> even
> a normal concert situation.  However, I do feel that the dampers are 
> a bit
> noisier than normal.
>     Is the problem with the grain of the damper felt?  I assume that 
> most of
> the noise is coming from the trichords and bichords, but it's hard 
> to tell
> exactly.  Perhaps just brushing the damper felts and re-regulating 
> them.  Or
> maybe I need to replace them all?
>     I would appreciate it if I could hear from someone who has 
> addressed
> this
> problem in a very nit-picky sound recording studio situation.  It's 
> driving
> them crazy.
> 
>                         Thanks,
> 
>                         Rand Reeves
>                         Ballston Spa, NY (Albany)
> 
> 
> 
>