[CAUT] Steinway D damper quirks

[Fred Sturm]

On 9/18/07 10:09 PM, "John Minor" <jminor at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> I recently replaced a set of dampers on a 10 year old Steinway D in the small
> living room of an accomplished pianist and had great difficulty with a few
> felts dampening completely. The first note in the treble, #21, has a nasty
> harmonic that I was unable to completely remove, no matter what configuration
> of placement of the felt.  The other major problem note was the lowest
> trichord in the bass. The felt just did not want to settle between the thick
> windings. We tried to determine if the problem was caused by sympathetic
> harmonics off of other notes, but ruled this out on these problems. I was
> using NY Steinway felts. I would appreciate any help on this.
> 
> We also discovered definite  after-ring from the duplex scale in the tenor,
> which I will "correct" with stringing braid when I return. This ring may be
> desirable in a large hall, but in a small living room it's too much.
> 
> John Minor
> University of Illinois
> 
Hi John,
    That sounds very familiar, as others have also noted. Very common
problem areas, very difficult to address. My approach is basic: greater and
greater refinement.
    Start with level strings. Try to find pointier trichord felt for that
A#2, and try to compress the felt so that it conforms a bit with the
windings. Check lean of the wire into the bushing (bottom bend). Enough to
make it firm, not so much as to make it drag, maybe a little lubrication and
polish to allow a little more firm contact. This can make a big difference,
as the damper head no longer dances on the string as long, but is more
firmly held in one place and alignment. This is the Steinway procedure, and
I think it is a good one, compared to having the bushing cloth closer to
filling the available space and aligning the wire to go straight up and down
within and with no leaning or direct contact (except with fuzz). It still
needs to go straight up and down, but always with contact on one side or the
other (which side doesn't matter). This also gives a better feel to the
action, as there isn't that quiver of the damper head in the up position,
being felt through the keyend. The procedure is to make the bottom bend so
the wire contacts the bushing to the right degree (feel it by plucking it
away from the bushing, and check for drag by lifting and letting fall), then
check for going straight up and down, adjusting the upper bend if necessary.
And then back to check the lower bend. (You probably know this, but I
include it for the sake of anyone who might not)
    Now very carefully check level of the damper heads and adjust if needed.
Fine straightedge across the top (6" rule), no gap whatsoever. And then do a
very fine winking of the damper off the string, just that very first
movement, watching for the faintest twist or shift sideways as the damper
comes off and returns to the string. And then make the adjustment, either
twisting the wire or hooking the top bends to align better to the string.
Also check and adjust for, initially, simultaneous front and back lift. You
might decide front or back lifting a bit first gives better results, but you
want to start simultaneous, as it will tell you more about possible twist
and side shift.
    Other things: It is helpful to pluck an open string of the unison,
lightly touching with the tip of a rubber mute the points where the ends of
the dampers touch, to focus on what harmonic is excited most there (this can
tell you whether to tip forward or back, or maybe to extend the damper felt
a bit beyond the end of the block). And to pluck the strings in both
directions with the dampers down and see which might ring more. And to
excite the strings with a staccato blow, and damp each string immediately
with a mute (doing this alternately, to find which string is not damping
more when the damper returns). A mirror to the back, preferably a magnifying
one, may show you something. Looking from below may show you something.
Watching how the trichords spread the strings when they come in contact may
show you something (do they spread evenly, or do two spread more than the
other side?) Also how the strings move inward when the damper lifts.
    I have had, and continue to have, great trouble with the A#2 damper of
one of my Ds. Drives me nuts. On a staccato blow, it takes far too long to
damp compared to its neighbors. Once in a while I delve into it for half an
hour or so, so far without satisfactory success. But most of the time I find
that persistent and very finicky work on the basics gets me where I want to
be. The one week damper class at Steinway was probably the best training
experience I ever had, not just for dampers, but for general focus and
"finickiness." 
    I will add that I recently found that an apparent damper problem on a B
resulted from the back string segment in the lower tenor (in the round hole
in the plate, behind the bridge) of one of the notes had been missed by the
stringing braid. Sure didn't sound like that when I started looking for it,
and it was hard to see, and hard to get some felt in there to correct it. So
you might go around plucking everything in sight to see if you can match
that nasty harmonic. That's how I found it. Had a similar experience with
back duplex in the tenor of a D, which happened to match and be excited by a
pitch. Sure sounded like a damping problem. I think the tenor duplex should
probably all be braided for the situation you describe, as it sounds like
you  plan to do.
    Best of luck. I feel your pain, all too vividly <G>.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico