<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Hi all,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have a customer with a Kawai Upright BL-51, about 25 years old.  When you play in the middle of the keyboard, there is a obvious ring, or echo after you release your fingers from the keys.  The after ring lasts indefinitely until the sound eventually dies off.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>After spending some time troubleshooting where exactly the echo was coming from, I isolated the problem to the bass end.  After playing the middle of the keyboard, I placed my palm on the entire unichord bass section, and the echo immediately vanished.  Everything else, damper alignment, etc seemed to be in good order.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>After removing the action, I discovered where the dampers rest on the bass strings, there is a good amount of what appears to be black "gunk" on the strings.  I say "gunk" because when I touch the affected areas with my fingers, it is somewhat sticky.  The gunk is also on the dampers themselves, but it looks more green when on the white damper felt.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So, before I run a quote to this customer, I am hoping to try and discover what caused this problem in the first place, and find the best course of action.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any help from this list I am sure will be beneficial in aiding in this diagnosis.  I hope the attached pictures go through as well.  Please let me know, thanks!<BR><BR></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff size=4><U>TODD PIANO WORKS</U></FONT></STRONG> <BR><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=3>Matthew Todd, Piano Technician</FONT> <BR><FONT size=3>(979) 248-9578</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=3><A href="http://www.toddpianoworks.com/" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://www.toddpianoworks.com</A></FONT></DIV></td></tr></table>