Hello Tom, You mentioned a former tenant affectionately named "rodentus miscecus". I'm assuming you mean they had mice? Sorry, I'm not up on my Latin. ;-) I've seen a few pianos where the mice had done damage to wooden parts such as the keysticks, and chewed bridal straps, etc. Most of us are familiar with that. But another thing that sometimes shows up is the results of their urination. I had a Steinway 1098 a year or so back where the mice had 'peed' all over the hammer return springs. Why? Who knows. But I found about a dozen or so of them had basically disintegrated in the middle of the spring, where they were 'peed' upon. Many more were ready to break. I ended up replacing the whole set. The reason I mention it is, in part, because it's not something that's necessarily evident without some pretty careful inspection. Just something else to look out for. As for the dampers not lifting very far, is it just that the pelican spring is bending too far? Or is the bottom board flexing a lot? Some of these things can be a real frustration to try to fix 'cause they weren't right from new! Sometimes a new spring can help. Sometimes a small object under the piano can help if there's too much flex...an old romance novel comes to mind...(won't dent the floor..., and usually available in a variety of thicknesses...). If you have to pull the action at some point, it might be worth checking to see if there are problems where the damper lift rod is attached, whether there might be some loose screws...? Don't you just "love" spinets??? Good luck, Brian Trout Quarryville, PA btrout@desupernet.net
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC