soundboard buzz

[William R. Monroe]

Hi Brandon, and Welcome.

The first thing I would suggest is to return to the piano and REALLY, REALLY
investigate the source of that buzzing.  Many times I have been able to
stifle a buzz by pressing on the soundboard, ribs, etc, only to eventually
find out that there is a screw or other object lying on the soundboard, or
simply loose screws somewhere in the piano that happen to correspond with
that frequency and also respond to pressure on the board.

Respectfully,
William R. Monroe



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J. Brandon Robertson" <brandon@heiwaarts.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 2:03 PM
Subject: soundboard buzz


Hello everyone.  I'm new on this list.  Hopefully some of you can offer some
advice about this.I've only been tuning for about 2 ½ years and I'm trying
to learn to do small repairs as I come across them.  This is something I
don't know how to fix, and I'd rather ask than cause damage by trying
something that might be bad for the piano.



A piano I tuned today is buzzing around the middle of the soundboard in the
bass section.  It buzzes loudest when I play C#3 and buzzes a little on a
couple of other notes.  I looked and can't find any cracks in the
soundboard, but it sounds like wood on wood.  The buzz stops completely when
I apply pressure to the top of the soundboard and also if I push up on the
ribs in that area.  The client just bought this piano brand new about three
weeks ago.  The brand is River.  It's under warranty, and I'm wondering
whether he should just send it back and get another one.



I felt bad having to tell the client that his brand new piano is buzzing,
and I wish there was something I could do to fix it.  Would some sort of
really thin shims work?  How about just trying to get some glue above the
ribs in that area?  Any advice you can give me would be appreciated.



Take care,

Brandon Robertson