Upright Damper Replacement

[Farrell]

Hi gang. Bill Spurlock wrote an article in the Journal in '94 about upright
damper replacement. The bottom line was that he said that he found that many
or most old uprights had bass dampers that were too short and he had the
best luck with dampers that were from 2 to 2-1/2 inches long, equipped with
three pieces of 5/8" long wedges. He described how he made his own dampers
(making the little boards and gluing the dampers onto new dowel damper
heads) and the process he uses to determine what size will work the best for
any particular piano.

Have any of you gone this route? Or know anyone that has? Is this generally
a good way to go about getting good working new dampers on an old upright? I
think most of what Bill Spurlock writes is pretty much right on target, but
just looking for a second opinion. This is my first upright damper job, so
it's not as if I gonna draw upon my own personal vast resources of
experience. Thanks.

Also, he does not mention using the dowel damper heads in the tenor, but
does suggest that some of the first strings in the low tenor often benefit
from a longer damper. Can I trust that there is nothing wrong with using the
dowel damper heads in this area? And is there anything wrong with making
your own dampers for all the treble strings (that originally had dampers)
and mounting them on dowel damper heads? Thanks again!

Terry Farrell