---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment >Joe, > >Those must be some mighty weak damper lever springs to allow that lift rod >to exert enough weight against the levers to cause over-ring. Mighty weak! >Given that, by adding a dummy damper, you are only applying a corrective >measure to a situation that was already in dire need of help. > >Definitely a great shortcut idea to avoid replacing the springs though. > >I guess by out-of-balance you are saying not a straight rod. Yes/No? > >Regards, > >Keith McGavern Consider how dampers are supposed to work. Ideally, they remain in contact with a vibrating string through it's full excursion, and by virtue of their spring resistance, mass, and side to side restraint, absorb the string energy and damp the string. If a lifter bar is riding on the bottom of a damper lever, the damper can't follow the string back and maintain optimal contact, so damping is compromised regardless of the spring strength. Since dampers are never perfectly adjusted, nor are felts perfectly uniform, nor strings perfectly spaced and leveled, some dampers will be more affected than others. The intended purpose of the auxiliary damper lever is to keep the lifter bar off of the damper levers to give the dampers at least some chance of working. The squeak is just a bonus. Anyone remember the old Pianocorder damper solenoid system? The thing was too small, with too short a throw (by at least half), and had absolutely no hope of ever lifting a set of functional dampers cleanly. Their official genius work around was to install a "helper" spring to partially float the dampers enough so the inadequate solenoid could actually lift some of them from the strings a tiny bit and give the impression of sustain. Of course, that meant that the dampers didn't damp, but that was the field tech's problem. Ron N ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment --- Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.538 / Virus Database: 333 - Release Date: 11/10/2003 ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC