$65 to adjust one damper?

[David Ilvedson]

Dave,
We all do this...the problem is we don't stop to think about what's going on...which string was ringing?   They weren't all ringing...one of the outside strings?   Can you slice up the middle with a razor blade a tish?  A piece of thin string...real thin...or thick thread...up the middle of the tri-chord will sometimes spread it out enough to stop the ringing...often, simply lifting the string with a string hook will do the job...I know, what about the hammer...deal with it...I've also had luck pulling the string towards the middle with Mannio's string hook, essentially bending towards the middle and stopped the ringing...but sometimes nothing seems to work and we say to ourselves..."why didn't I leave well enough alone?"   Why?  because it isn't good enough...
Always a good habit to mention what your noticing and get them on your side..."this damper isn't working as well as I'd like...I have about 15 minutes do you want me to see if I can improve it..."   
20-20 hindsight...;-]
Of course
David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA 94044





Original message
From: "David Nereson" 
To: "List Pianotech" 
Received: 8/18/2006 9:58:33 PM
Subject: $65 to adjust one damper?


 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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