[CAUT] damper question

[Ron Nossaman]

> But this kind of got me interested in something. I looked at other 
> pianos, from small spinets to concert grands, and noticed that dampers 
> end anywhere from D6 - G6. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason 
> or pattern where they end. So my question is, is there a "rule of 
> thumb," or something much more sophisticated, to tell an scaler or piano 
> engineer where to stop the dampers?
>  
> Wim

It depends to a large degree on the soundboard. A stiffer, 
more massive board will sustain longer and need more dampers. 
It's a crap shoot in any case. No matter what you do, there 
will either be too many dampers, or not enough, and they will 
either work too well, or not well enough. And that's just 
techs! When you get out in the public, opinions will be even 
more random.

Ron N