noisy dampers (wires)

[Farrell]

I love reading about troubles I have not yet experienced. Maybe with some, I
will know how to fix it before it occurrs! Sometimes some of the particulars
are tought to figure though. What on earth are you folks talking about when
you speak of wedge damper felts "bowing" the string? Do you speak of the
wedge driving downward and spreading the strings apart farther than with no
felt present?

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

----- Original Message -----
From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2001 8:59 PM
Subject: Re: noisy dampers (wires)


> Carol writes:
> <<Don't bother disassembling the piano!  I wouldn't trim those damper
felts
> either.  Do:
> 1) try sticking a single needle in the damper felts to "voice" them
> 2) tell the customer that the piano is "breaking in" and that when the
> damper felts get grooves in them they won't be so noisy
>
>    Gee,  I got the driving urge to  wave another flag here.  Since I
forget
> all my old experience, I will try to stick with current happenings.  I
have
> been looking at 18 new Yamaha and 6 Steinway grands go through their first
> semester at Vanderbilt.         The damper noise is something I have taken
> note of.  The Steinways all made a lot of woosh when the pedal went down.
> Naturally, I suspected that the wedges were bowing the strings, but then
> realized that the woosh was still "available" with pedal movement well
after
> the wedges were clear of the strings.(gotta looove them loose upstop rails
> and suicidal trapwork ranges of motion).  I pulled the action out.
>        Lifting the dampers clear with the pedal, then raising the
> underlevers, a woosh!  It seems that the wires were allowed to form a
light
> oxide before installation, and this texture was enough tooth to really
make a
> lot of noise, enough to be heard in the strings.
>    I Brassoed the wire, listened to movement. Voices of protest were
> silenced.
> While taking these wires out, I noticed another common bug to be remedied.
> Many of the wires were bent so that, while being straight with their
> neighbors, they pressed quite firmly against the sides of the guide
bushing.
> It was like a violin being firmly bowed with a well rosined bow. This
> condition will wear out the bushings in less than a year.  I know, I have
> seen it happen, a lot.  (Just like nicked front pins, for which there is
NO
> excuse, will wear out that keybushing in 1/6 the normal amount of time.)
but
> I digress...
>     Easing the wires and polishing them left nothing but the
> felt-against-string noise, and since I had used an eraser on the  plain
> strings where the wedges entered,  there was very little  of this.
Teacher
> was happy, and could move on to complaining about the softness of tone
<sigh>
>     The Yamaha had no such problems.  They worked right out of the box,
but
> their dampers don't improve with age inre the woosh problem.  They tend to
> stay the same, but as they harden,  their return seems to be greeted with
> increasing vigor, (noise).
>    I think the regulation and condition of the parts can have as much to
do
> with damper quietness as the felt.  Poorly regulated and corroded wires
wear
> the bushings out a lot faster, and make a lot of noise as they do it.  As
the
> bushings wear, the wire moves over, and the wedges begin dragging
sideways.
> And let's not forget the two center pins in the underlevers being held
> against a strain.
>    I have gone on too long,  but it is just noise, it has to come from
> somewhere, and it can come from several places at once.
> Regards,
> Ed Foote
>