key click

[Joe & Penny Goss]

Ed,
As the piano ages all felt will compress due to wear or constant pressure.
The keys are in this case most likely tapping the wood of the balance rail.
If that is the case and you are lucky, the felt that the keystick rests on
can be shimmed up with business card stock. That is if someone has not put
glue on all of the surface of the felt.
Joe Goss


> From: Ed Carwithen <musicman@eoni.com>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: key click
> Date: Wednesday, September 23, 1998 8:18 PM
> 
> Speaking of noisey keys.
> 
>   spinet piano that I worked with recently... The owner complained of a
> click as the key returned.  The problem seemed to be isolated at the back
> of the key as it returned to the back felt.  I put a very thin piece of
> felt under a couple of the worst of the keys, and it definitely
eliminated
> the click.  The lower register was the worst part of the piano, but there
> were isolated keys that did click in the middle.
> 
> Please no slams...I feel bad enough already that I couldn't figure out
why
> the noise.
> 
> I placed a line of the thin feld on top of the entire back felt already
> there.  It eliminated all trace of the offending click...BUT of course
> threw the regulation so far off as to be painful.  The hammers were way
off
> the hammer rest rail.  I shimmed that slightly, and did a quick
regulation
> on the rest.  I didn't want to make too big a change in the event that
> someone on the list would advise me as to what better way to approach the
> problem.   
> 
> The really scary thing is that I just don't think what I did was the way
to
> take care of it.  And another (fairly picky) client has now called to say
> thata her keys are clicking as she releases.  Sounds like the same
symptom.
> 
> What is going on...any ideas out there????
> 
> 
> Ed Carwithen
> John Day, OR  
>