Damper Ringing

[Ray T. Bentley]

It's not your fault, Terry.  The pedal adjustments were wise, but you did
nothing to cause the dampers to ring.  Often bass dampers don't work very
well in small poorly designed pianos especially when they have aged a bit.
You always run across the occasional soul who hopes to get something done
for nothing.  I had a lady to call me back once that there was a buzz in the
Steinway grand piano that she hadn't noticed before I tuned it.  I went back
promptly and removed a lipstick sample tube from the sound board.  Did I
drop that in when I tuned it? ;)

Good fortune in resolving this matter!

Ray T. Bentley, RPT
Alton, IL


----- Original Message -----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 06, 2000 8:25 PM
Subject: Damper Ringing


> Had a negative experience today. Don't get many in this business.
>
> I got a call the other day from a lady with a 1972 Story & Clark console
> (good condition) that I had tuned this past August. She said the piano
seems
> louder that before I tuned it and it kinda echos. I figured I must have
> adjusted the damper pedal a bit too tight and the dampers were not fully
> seating. I have tuned the piano twice. I went to the piano today. The
> dampers were indeed not effectively stopping bass string vibration. The
left
> pedal for the bass dampers was a bit too tight - there was no play in the
> pedal. So I let a little play into that pedal and let a bit more into the
> sustain pedal just to be sure that my adjustments were not too tight.
These
> adjustments seemed to make for less ringing, although there is definately
> still more ringing than normal (if I mute the bass strings with my hand
> there is no ringing).
>
> The piano owner says it didn't ring before I tuned it last. I certainly
> don't remember if it did or not. My guess is most people that own console
> pianos would not consider the ringing a problem. But it definately does
> ring. It would drive me nuts (I guess it is!). I told her that I didn't do
> anything with the dampers and it is most likely that they were ringing
> before I tuned it - she just may notice it now because the pedal was a bit
> tight and that made it ring more.
>
> Her bass dampers are just beginning to buzz when you release the key, and
> the damper springs seem quite weak to me. It doesn't suprise me that they
> ring. I told her that to fix it, she would have to replace damper felt and
> springs.
>
> My question is: Is there anything I could have done that has made a
> non-ringing piano have damper leaks? This is really bugging me, because I
> think it is likely that she thinks I goofed up her piano. I always want to
> make right anything I might screw up. Thanks for any thoughts.
>
> Terry Farrell
> Piano Tuning & Service
> Tampa, Florida
> mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
>
>