Damper Ringing

[Farrell]

Thanks Roger, et. al.

I did not take the action out of the piano ever. I did check the action
nuts - I tightened all four of them a couple turns, but that did not affect
damper leaking. I did not check damper follow. Ooooops!

I will call her and ask to visit the piano one more time (she lives close
by, so it is easy to stop by). At least if that were the problem, a little
re-alignment that MIGHT improve damper performance would presumably be less
cost than replacement.

Thanks all, I feel better after reading your posts.

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Jolly" <baldyam@sk.sympatico.ca>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 06, 2000 10:35 PM
Subject: Re: Damper Ringing


> Hi Terry,
>               Do you have damper follow?  Press on the bass strings to
make
> sure that the dampers follow the string for about 1/8".  If you had the
> action out, it may not have gone back into the exact same position.
> Just some thought's.
> Roger
>
>
> At 09:25 PM 06/10/00 -0400, you wrote:
> >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
> >
> Roger Jolly
> Saskatoon, Canada.
> 306-665-0213
> Fax 652-0505
>