<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML style="FONT-SIZE: medium; FONT-FAMILY: AGaramond Bold"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#d8d0c8> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>Haven't you seen terms like sustaining tone bar, and like terms? I have seen similar terms on pianos, say into the 20's.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>I have no idea, of how the pianos over a 100 years sounded when new.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>I just know, that of the birdcage ones I have had contact with, very few had a reasonable damper operation. The German ones, seem to be the exception.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>The point, I was trying to make, is, that as technicians, we should try to please the present owner, and if they want the dampers to work better, we should try and make that happen, regardless of how they sounded when new.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">An open list for piano technicians</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, January 11, 2006 8:13 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Lovely OverDamper Piano</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How is it we "know" how pianos originally sounded 100+ years ago? I know some piano tuners are old, but........</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>I have some input into the subject of 'ringing dampers'.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>Some of the North American pianos, of the earlier part of the 20th century, had dampers that were not as efficient also.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>They had terms like resonant whatever. They liked the 'ring', in those days.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>Just because a piano was manufactured, as the birdcage etc., with an after ring, does not mean that we have to stick with that. The customer should not have to put up with this after ring, if they don't like it, just because that is the way the piano was 'meant' to be.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>If we can modify, or reduce this 'noise', then we should.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=3>This German piano I tuned recently, was a birdcage, Ibach I think, had a minimal after ring, so the birdcage, can obviously be made to have a more efficient damper system.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>Wow, that's surprising.  I thought it was a deficiency of modern upright dampers that they don't damp (not dampen! :-) near the strike point, like grand dampers do.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>--Cy--</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> </DIV> <P> <DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>...the closer you get to the string termination the less effective the damper will be to absorb the vibrating energy. This fact was established in the time of around 1850 or so. Sooooooo, again, The Over Ring IS intentional and should only be moderated, NOT eliminated, because it is impossible, given the action geometry & physical characteristics. </FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>