Jim, What's the length of the mallet? Barbara Richmond ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Ellis" <claviers at nxs.net> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 9:33 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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