Tech Tip...damper voicing

[Ronald R Shiflet]

Dear list,
	For quite some time I have used a method for vertical dampers
that I call 'damper voicing'.  I'm sure everyone else out there uses it
also,  but I've never heard it mentioned.

	One day I was fighting a damper that refused to work even after
the rules were followed.  I realized then that there was no point in
bending wires...kind of like trying to reuse a gasket.  It seemed that I
would work and work to get the lift and timing right but alignment on an
old felt and trying to bend a wire in those small of increments was
inefficient.  More often then not, I would mess something up trying to
get this precise of an alignment.  The real problem is felt seating.  I
have seen countless people (myself included) go bending wires only to
make it worse, trying to seat old felt with grooves in it.

	Now, I simply remove the damper block with felt  from the wire.
Then I take an emery board or my hammer filing paddle and I simply sand
out the grooves just like you do a hammer.  Then re-install...it's
pretty simple.  On rare occasions and for varying reasons, I've had to
cut the felt off the block.  Then I glue it in and the glue seats the
pad.  The very last resort is, of course, installing a new felt but that
is rarely needed since this method usually solves the real problem.

	I need to caution though, that this method will not work when the
other rules are not followed.  Correct damper lift, evenness, spoons, and
especially the damper pushing against the string are all mandatory.

Ron Shiflet, RPT
Phoenix Chapter
Ron_and_Lorene@Juno.com