Hate to say it, but you will be surprised (and delighted) by how much difference it makes to have new felt in the guide rail. I agree that leaving the hole in the bushing a little generous is an excellent idea, and I find great advantage to wetting them all, after seating, with McLube, then seating them again after drying. Stable and long-lasting bushings. And very quiet. You can have a very little bit more pressure with cloth and wire lubricated, and the damping efficiency is better with the pressure. Doug Wood University of Washington dew2 at u.washington.edu On Sat, 21 Nov 2009, Fred Sturm wrote: > I'll just mention again that I agree with Steinway practice to lean the wire > on the bushing, not to center it in the hole. I think you get better damping > because of the support of the wire against the bushing cloth. It has to be > carefully done: just the right amount of lean, not enough to cause drag. > The chatter of the damper head wobbling is not just indicative of > what is going to happen when it contacts the strings (it will bounce and > vibrate for quite a while), but it also feels bad at the key. > Seems to me it would be quite possible to apply water and alcohol, or > VSProfelt, to the bushing cloth with a long flex nozzle. Worth experimenting > on one or two. I haven't done it, but why not try? > Regards, > Fred Sturm > University of New Mexico > fssturm at unm.edu > > On Nov 21, 2009, at 1:30 PM, Stan Kroeker wrote: > >> Dear Colleagues, >> >> Am regretting not replacing damper guiderail bushings on a recent Steinway >> (1976 B) parts retrofit. The new damper action installed smoothly and >> required only minimal re-bending of damper wires. However, in spite of >> careful attention to proper alignment and seating of bichord and trichord >> damper wedges, I can't seem to eradicate an 'oink' together with >> longer-than-satisfactory 'ringing-on' of most dampers in this part of the >> scale. >> >> There is actually quite a bit of free play in the guiderail bushings ... >> you can see the damper head wobble when the key is struck. Am kicking >> myself for neglecting this important interface but, short of rebushing the >> rails, has anyone had success with moistening the bushings in hopes of >> swelling them back to acceptable tolerance? I sometimes do that with >> moderately compressed keybushings ... would it work on these as well? If >> so, would you mind sharing the procedure? >> >> Thanks and best regards from the Canadian prairie! >> >> Stan Kroeker, RPT >
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