tangy tone

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Edward Carwithen wrote:

> I need some suggestions as to how to deal with a bad sounding Bb-4.  This
> is on a Chickering baby grand #3941.  It was reconditioned about 6 years
> ago; new strings, new pins, Hammers look new as well.  Several notes have a
> metallic sound.  I checked to see if the damper wire was somehow touching
> one string, and that is not the case.  I found one string where the string
> was not seated sufficiently on the stagger pin, and that helped.  But on
> Bb-4 and the octave above Bb-5, there is still bad sound.  It seems to be
> coming from the center string in both cases rather than the treble or bass
> string.  The hammers were not hitting all the strings equally, the treble
> string being barely struck by the edge of the hammer, but that was true of
> many of the strike zones in that upper middle section, and I re-adjusted
> them so that the strike area was in the center of the hammer, then reshaped
> the hammer slightly so as to even out the surface of the hammer.  Still
> haven't found the way to get the tone to stop sounding like an anvil.  It
> appears that all of the strings are being struck together.  They come out
> of an agraffe, so I expect they are even where the hammer hits.  I
> did pull up the hammer to the string and examine the sycronisity of the
> hammer strike.
>
> What else can I look for?????????????
>
> Ed Carwithen
> musicman@eoni.com
> John Day, OR
> Ed Carwithen
> Oregon

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Ed,

When all else fails (and I do mean ALL else) you might check to see if the agraffes were removed (for plate finishing) and
then if those on the offending notes were fully seated when reinstalled.

-- ddf