$65 to adjust one damper?

[David Nereson]

 I’m sure something similar has happened to everyone on the
list.  I noticed one damper had a long after-ring, so tried to
bend it up, down, sideways, etc., to make it contact the strings
better.  No dice.  Had to pull the action.  This is one of the
dampers right against a plate strut, with the long right-angle
bend before the damper wire goes down the guide hole.  Anyhow,
pulled the damper, made what I thought was the necessary bend,
and of course the damper head comes loose from the wire, even
though I was holding it tightly in place with parallel pliers.
Had to plug the hole with a toothpick splinter and tap the wire
back into the hole with a small punch, then add a drop of CA
glue.  Then put the damper back in the underlever, regulated,
re-installed the action and tried it.  Nope.  Still rings.  By
now probably 15 or 20 minutes have elapsed.  Yes I have the tool
that enables bending it side to side with the damper in place.
No dice.  Still rings.  Pull the action and damper again, try
squeezing the felt to make it settle down farther into the
strings, reinstall damper, reinstall action, try again.  Nope,
still rings.  By now about a half hour has elapsed.  Pull action
and damper again, try fluffing up the felt with a voicing tool
on the one string that still rings.  Reinstall everything and
try again.  Better, but now the 7th partial is too strong.  Try
bending forward and back to kill the partial.  No dice.  This
goes on and on for another half hour before I finally get the
damper to satisfactorily dampen that note.  Do I now charge $65
just for adjusting one damper?  How do I explain this to the
customer?  Certainly if I had let it ring, I would have gotten a
call-back about it.
            --David Nereson, RPT
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