At 01:15 +0100 31/5/10, David Boyce wrote: >Does anyone know what these odd extra damper wires are for, on this >1890s Bechstein upright? > >The last trichord at the beark has an additional "fly damper", but >there is no sign of them ever having been fitted to these bass >notes. I wondered if perhaps this model of action was also fitted >to other, taller pianos that needed fly dampers at the bass. But why >the "loop" ends? On later models they did go a step further and add fly dampers, but the idea of these "counter-wires" is, I think, that they oscillate at a different frequency from the damper body itself and from the string, so that the damper felt cannot bounce off the string for long. I've never tested it but I wouldn't be surprised if it were more effective than a fly damper. JD
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