Noisy Action

[Tom Driscoll]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Clark A. Sprague" <clarks11628@juno.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 9:08 PM
Subject: Noisy Action


> Friends,  Today I was working on a Young Chang G-175 grand.  Totally
> regulated, steamed, filed and dry ironed hammers.  Actually this was done
> a couple of weeks ago, but today, I found out that somebody bought it,
> and they are a recording studio.  We tried to tell them that this was not
> the piano for them, but they liked the tone, the touch, and the price.
> The problem is that the action is noisy.
>         I steamed the whippen cushions, and it quieted them, and nicely
> removed the dents (at least for awhile, I hope).  But the back rail felt
> is the real culprit.
>         Please help me with the following:  The back 2+ inches of the
> keys are beveled off to meet flush with the felt, of which there is 2 1/2
> inches wide of the stuff.  How much width do you need back there?  If I
> replaced it with fluffier stuff, how wide should it be?  The whole 2+
> inches of the key end is plopping on the felt with a clunk.  HELP!  I
> need to deal with it tomorrow.
> Thanks a million in advance,
> Clark Sprague, RPT

    Clark,
            The backrail material is cloth not felt and should not be
fluffy. I don't think the width is your problem. You indeed may need to
replace what is there now ,but lots of pianos have cloth this wide without
the noise. Try and use the same thickness as the original to save key
leveling time and only use a minimum of glue on the front edge of the rail.
The Young Chang service manual shows no under felt on their grand diagram ,
So a retro fit with a combination of backrail cloth and a strip of perhaps
under string cloth or thick bushing cloth may quiet things down. Again try
not to change the overall height of this combination as not only will key
height be affected but damper timing  would change also.  Good quality cloth
with an absolute minimum of glue should help. Also check for over eased
balance rail holes and key bushings and a poorly bedded backrail. If the
keys are chucking around on release and the rail is knocking on the keybed
your backrail cloth may not be the problem.
      Speaking of Y.C. noise  my most common observation on Y.C. grands is
the noise from the jack regulating punching hitting the jack spoon. They can
be very hard and need to be replaced. Good luck.    Tom Driscoll