replacing damper felts

Tvak@aol.com Tvak@aol.com
Sun, 30 Nov 2003 20:54:12 EST


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I am replacing damper felts on a 1895 Kimball grand.   I have noticed that 
older pianos like this one often have small damper felts (maybe 1/2 inch to 3/4 
inch) situated at the ends of the damper heads with alot of space in the 
middle.   I suppose that the idea here is that the smaller surface area increases 
the amount of downward pressure on the string, thereby increasing the dampening 
power.   Therefore I'm inclined to duplicate the size and placement of the 
old damper felts.

Agree/disagree?

Then I got to thinking...

If that rationale is true, why do most modern grands have longer damper felts 
in the midrange than they do at the treble?   If the smaller area increases 
the amount of downward pressure, wouldn't the opposite be more efficient, 
assuming that the midrange strings generate more sustain and need more powerful 
damping?

Any thoughts on this?

Tom Sivak

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