Damper Ringing

[Brian Trout]

Hi Terry,

I confess that I haven't been following the threads on this list as close of
late...  life is pretty occupied with other things right now...

I had a thought or two.  I don't know if someone has already mentioned these
things.  Forgive me if it's redundant.

Damper springs can be strengthened a bit, kind of like what you do to a
repetition spring.  I wouldn't get to radical with this one, but it's
something you might consider exploring if need be.  One big thing to be
aware of,... if you stiffen those babies up very much, the damper lift rod
will bend quite a bit more and consequently the lift timing will probably
get thrown off.

It might be good to see where the spoons are in this whole thing.  At what
point do the dampers start to lift when you press the key down?  If it's
immediate, you have a hint that there could be some of the problem.  If it's
getting pretty old, there can be some things that might change the relative
positions of the spoon to the damper lever.  Deteriorating / compressing
damper felt, back rail felt, balance rail felt, the positioning of the
hammer stop rail, all come to mind.  (I haven't thought out the whole thing,
they're just things that flashed into my mind.)

You might have some success with a bit of wire bending here and there to
make sure the dampers are seated on those strings as squarely as possible,
but I doubt that'll take care of it completely.

I hope I haven't bored you with a lot of totally useless stuff.  Like I
said, I haven't followed very closely.

Good luck, Terry.

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net