Damper Problems

Laurence Beach lbeach@sfu.ca
Thu, 16 May 1996 18:35:39 -0700 (PDT)


>
>    Do I need to needle the damper felt?  Is this a job for damper pliers?
>    Do the dampers require some modification?  Would more weight on the
>    underlever help?  Is this a design flaw the customer must live with?
>    Any help is greatly appreciated!!
>
>    John Piesik
>    San Diego Chapter PTG
>    JPIESIK@ARINC.COM
>
>

When all alignment appears correct, the next thing I test is the
effectiveness of the damper weight.  Play the note, listen for the
annoying sounds, and let the weight of your finger rest on the damper
head.  If the sound completely dissappears, adding weight to the
underlever may work.  However, if no change is observed with the added
weight of your finger, no amount of lead in the underlever will do you
any good.

I have found in the past that the damper material may not be cut
correctly.  The result is that, even if the damper seems to be aligned
properly, visually, one of the strings may still sustain.  Make sure that
the sustaining sounds are coming from all three (or two) strings and not
just from one.  If it is coming from only one of the strings, there may
be irregularities in the damper felt.  I once had to 'shave' one side of
some trichord material to get the damper to rest evenly on all three
strings.  Unfortunately, the cosmetic effect of 'shaving' was less than
perfect but not completely objectionable.  Incidently, the dampers now
work very well, although I will likely replace them with better quality
material in the future.

Laurence Beach
Vancouver BC
Canada.




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