Friends, Have just returned from my client's studio ... the 'B' with the oinking/buzzing dampers. Thanks to your sage advice, the buzzing of damper wires against strings (in the bichord section) was an easy fix. Adjusted the 'pressure bends' to create some side-bearing against the guiderail bushings. The challenge here, due to 'less-than- stellar' drilling of the guiderails (uneven spacing), was that some had to bear against one side of the bushings, some the other in order to have them rise vertically and as close as possible to the center point between adjacent strings. Decisive damping was quite another issue and perhaps I might open up another thread for discussion here: In spite of precise alignment (side-to-side, fore-and-aft, vertical), almost all the bichords and the lowest 4 tenor trichords still ring on for the 'split-second-too- long' that draws your attention. I have fussed with the alignment, string spacing (on the trichords), string level, damper wedge profile (squeezing to create a sharper wedge) to the point of diminishing returns. I have listened to other similar pianos, some of which display the same imprecise damping in this area ... some less so. Have I missed something? This piano is a mid-70s 'B' (teflon) which has recently been retrofitted with OEM Steinway parts, including damper action. The latter is clearly not identical to the original (although the spacing and alignment worked out very well) and I didn't think to compare the 'downweight' of the new levers to the originals. On some of the offending dampers, a little more weight (applied gently by finger) reduced the 'oink' ... but not all. Similar to ongoing discussion of the many choices available in aftermarket hammers, would you mind sharing your preferences for currently available damper felt? Regards, Stan Kroeker, RPT
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