Leading Vertical Dampers

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Use the minimum amount of lead necessary to do the job. As I've written
before, I've used fisherman's leads which come in various sizes. Not being a
fisherman I don't know how these are sized. It probably wouldn't do you much
good anyway since the fish you have over there are probably different from
the fish we have here -- hence the different weapons used to go after them.

You'll want a bit more mass in the bass than in the tenor and probably none
at all in the treble. Indeed, you might just treat the bass and see if that
does the trick. If you can conveniently obtain various sizes, get two or
three and experiment. My favorite so far are an elongated oval with a hole
in the middle. You have to remove the head to get them on, but that doesn't
take long.

Don't forget a drop of glue -- something like PVC-e or plain old Elmer's
White Glue. It's just to prevent the possibility of buzzing later on.

Del


----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <richard.brekne@grieg.uib.no>
To: "PTG" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: June 03, 2002 12:47 PM
Subject: Leading Vertical Dampers


> Hi folks
>
> I have decided to give this idea a try and see how it goes, and thought I
might
> both seek advice as to just how much lead to add to the dampers and at the
same
> time give a sort of before and after story of the action for everyones
> edification.
>
> This action is from an approximately 70 year old  Rønish full sized
upright.
> Damper felt is origional, dirty but not crusty......should actually do the
job
> well enough but doesnt. Springs are on the weak side for sure, and I think
I
> will have to change centers on the lot... but I will know that tommorrow.
In
> anycase the whole piano sings through the damper system quite a bit and
for a
> good long time. Seems pretty evenly distributed through the whole system
but
> the bass is a bit more active then the rest predictably enough. Still a
> noticeable drop in the problem when any section of the damped strings is
muted
> by hand.
>
> Anyways I thought about giving Dels advice a whirl on this one and am
asking
> for input as to how heavy the damper heads should be.
>
> RicB
>
> Richard Brekne
> RPT NPTF
> Griegakadamiet UiB
>