Steinway damper

[David Ilvedson]

Phil,

I am amazed at all the answers you have received so far...where is the
typical Pianotech insight into problems like this.  Ron N. where are you?  I
was going to mention this is why you should never go trolling in a piano,
but I think we need the expert to handle this...

David I.


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of pryan2
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2000 4:25 AM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Steinway damper


I was servicing a very ornate Steinway D (hand painted/carved/gold in-laid)
in an exclusive  restaurant and noticed ugly fishing weights glued securely
on top of  several damper heads. Some of the dampers had two weights one on
front and the other at the back.  The dampers seem to work OK so I left them
alone (I'm no fool).

My question is: Is this a last-ditch, acceptable repair technique or an
amateurish attempt to quiet  ringing dampers?  I would think that a damper
problem on such a piano could/should be solved in a more professional way or
at least put the weights inside the underlever system. Does it ever come to
a point where this technique is necessary?   I've always WANTED to solve it
this way, but questioned whether it is  an acceptable repair technique.
Did I miss a chapter in my piano-tech edjication?

Phil Ryan
Miami Beach