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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040 size=2 FAMILY="SANSS=
ERIF"> <FONT size=4>Tom</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040 size=4> One idea=
is that the least amount required to give totally effective damping is enou=
gh & more isn't better. The other idea is that certain arrangement of fe=
lts like those of S&S grands was initiated to perhaps miss a string node=
. I haven't found this to be so in practice I've tried many arrangement=
s on Steinways & I personally like the four equally spaced pieces in the=
Mono-chords & first 2 bichords dampers for more effective damping then =
switching to a larger piece in front and smaller in the back similar to the =
original arrangement. In the tenor I find that an arrangement of tri-ch=
ord on the front & flat on the rear works well up to the treble break th=
en flats. This has worked well with every grand I've done this to.</FONT></D=
IV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040 size=4> Regards-=
-Dale</FONT></DIV>
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=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040></F=
ONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT face=Geneva color=#000000 size=
=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#000040>Tom=
writes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>I am replacing damper felts on a 1895 Kimball grand. I have notic=
ed that older pianos like this one often have small damper felts (maybe 1/2 =
inch to 3/4 inch) situated at the ends of the damper heads with alot of spac=
e in the middle. I suppose that the idea here is that the smaller surf=
ace area increases the amount of downward pressure on the string, thereby in=
creasing the dampening power. Therefore I'm inclined to duplicate the =
size and placement of the old damper felts.<BR><BR>Agree/disagree?<BR><BR>Th=
en I got to thinking...<BR><BR>If that rationale is true, why do most modern=
grands have longer damper felts in the midrange than they do at the treble?=
If the smaller area increases the amount of downward pressure, wouldn=
't the opposite be more efficient, assuming that the midrange strings genera=
te more sustain and need more powerful damping?<BR><BR>Any thoughts on this?=
<BR><BR>Tom Sivak</FONT><FONT face=Geneva color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY=
="SANSSERIF"></FONT> </FONT></DIV>
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