Singing Strut

[Jim Coleman, Sr.]

Hi Charles:

If leaning on the strut caused the vibration at that pitch to stop, then
I might suggest that a retro-fit bar would be in order. You know the 
removeable bar on a Steinway concert grand. I envision a bar which would
be clamped between the offending strut and another strut. This would 
damp out the original frequency since it would change the free 
vibrating length.

If this is a resonant frequency, it probable happens on other pianos of
the same size and make. the factory might be interested in what you 
come up with as a fix.

Another idea just off of the top of my head would be to temporarily
clamp a piece of maple 2X2 to the side of this offending strut to see
if that would make a difference. If this is the Bass strut, the 
auxiliary piece could be bronzed. If this does not stop the singing 
strut, then, there may be some other cause which your leaning on the
strut stopped.

>From the customer's standpoint, changing pianos would probably be the
best thing to do, but from the practical standpoint, you wouldn't just
throw away an almost perfectly good piano when something could be 
done to eliminate the problem. The factory needs to know about this so
that if they have other complaints of this same nature, they can take
steps to correct it.

If the customer has merely latched onto this phenomenon to renege on a
deal, then you certainly don't want to be caught in the middle of a 
legal problem.

Jim Coleman, Sr.

PS What model is this? I may be able to investigate this at our local
dealer's showroom. Write me privately if you would like me to look for
a similar problem here. JWC.

On Sun, 23 Nov 1997, Charles E Faulk wrote:

> Del 
> 
> Fortunately for the customer, this piano is brand new; and the purpose of
> my visit was to investigate a warranty related complaint. 
> 
> Although I couldn't tell the customer, it looks like a replacement of the
> piano might be in order. I hope that other similar models (Petrof) don't
> have the same problem. 
> 
> I wonder how one might actually repair such a problem. I had to literally
> lean on the strut to stop it from vibrating. 
> 
> Thanks again.
> 
> Charles Faulk
>