Damper Rod Problem

[Les Smith]

On Thu, 14 Aug 1997, Newton Hunt wrote:

> >Dear List,
> >
> >I'm working on an old Cable upright player.  I've seen the following
> >problem in the past.  When the horizontal damper lifter rod (the one behind
> >the dampers) is lifted, the bass dampers lift first, then the tenor.
> >Finally the treble dampers lift hardly at all.  Is this rail bent from
> >years of use or are the felt bushings which hold the pivot points bad?  I'm
> >hoping to get some idea of the more likley cause before I really get into
> >this thing.
> >
> >Thanks to all,
> >Bob Sadowski RPT
> >Erie,PA. 
> 
> The bushing could be worn and cause such a problem, but, it is more likely
> that the hangers are bent .
> 
> Observ the damper lift and pick the area which is to your liking.
> 
> Remove the lift rod and check the hangers on a flat survace, like the top of
> the piano.  Check to see that the hanger ends are all on the surface, if not
> make them so.  Check the bass pivot to see if the felt is indeed worn and
> replace if so.
> 
> While you have the rod out clean and lube it and the hangers.
> 
> Gentlyreplace the rod and check in the piano.
> 
> This sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn't and the results can be
> rewarding.
> 
>      Newton
>      nhunt@jagat.com
> 
Actually, it's going to be a hell of a lot of work if the player action is
still in the piano, because it's going to have to be removed first , so
that the piano action can then be removed and the damper lift rod then
serviced. Before TOUCHING such a piano, ascertain whether or not the
player is working by having the OWNER play a roll for you. You need to
know if, and how well the player is working BEFORE you touch the piano,
because after you're finished you may find the player working poorly,
or not at all, and then have the owner tell you, "What did YOU DO to
my player, it was working GREAT BEFORE you took it apart."!

And that's not all. It's possible that the player might still be work-
ing to some degree, but that all the tubing and hoses are so brittle
that disturbing them IN THE SLIGHTEST, will cause them to break and
the player to cease functiong. It's possible that you could find your-
self in a situation where it could cost YOU *MUCH* more to have to pay
a player tech to get the instrument working again than what you would
make fixing the damper rod problem. Work like that you don't need!
Most old, barely-working plkayer are unstable time-bombs just waiting
to explode in the face of some earnest, well-meaning technicin. You don't
want that technician to be you.

Further, even if the player isn't working, you can still run into prob-
lems. A few years ago a fellow technician removed a non-working player
stack to access the piano action so that several loose jacks could be
reglued. In the process of removing the player action which was covered
with 3/4 of a century of dirt and grime, he inadvertently got some of
it on the customer's brand-new, off-white, wall-to-wall carpeting. They
made such a stink about it that he wound up having to pay for having
the whole carpet cleaned professionally! Do you really want, or need
that kind of work? Does anyone?

Les Smith