That was good, Jim -- definitely sounds more efficient than the usual having someone bang the note method (not always easy to find someone to do that, while you crawl about and under the piano!:) I'm making one or two of those mallets post haste. Thanks! Jeff O. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Ellis" <claviers at nxs.net> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 7:33 AM Subject: [CAUT] Loose Soundboards > Several messages ago, someone talked about a piano lacking in > power and > sustain, possibly due to a soundboard that was loose at the > rim. Years > ago, I made myself a little wooden mallet from a piece of 3/4 > inch dowel > loaded with key leads, padded on each end with felt and > leather, with a 3/8 > inch dowel for a handle. The padding on one end is thin and > stiff, but > that on the other end is thick and soft. If I suspect that a > soundboard is > loose at the rim, or has a loose rib, I crawl under the piano, > and thump on > the board with the mallet, working my way around the edges and > along the > ribs. If there is a loose spot, it will rattle. Sometimes the > end with > the thin padding works best to find the rattle, but at other > times, the > soft padded end works best. This works so much better than > banging on a > buzzing note, and trying to find the trouble spot. If the > mallet thumping > and presssing on the board at different places finds no > rattles, I look for > something else that may be causing a buzzing note. It's such a > simple > test, and it works so well. In fact, I made two of these > things. The > heavier one weighs about 1/4 pound. > > Jim Ellis > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > >
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