trichord damper noise

[A440A@AOL.COM]

Mark writes:
>However, when a pianist DOES record some solo work, the
>odds are good that he will comment on the noise ('swish') of the damper
>felt rising and falling. 

    Greetings, 
   That swish is like a bunch of little violin bows being pulled across the 
strings. Three things that have helped me:
    First is, as the others mentioned, trim the felt to go no farther than 
the bottom of the strings. 
    Then, clean the plainwire strings where the wedges go.  This means 
pulling the dampers out and using  a soft cloth with Brasso or similar metal 
polish to clean the inner sides of the strings where the wedges rub on their 
travels up and down. Polish them thoroughly (top and bottom included) with a 
fresh clean cloth.  Follow this with a rubbing of clean, soft cloth that has 
a light dusting of teflon powder on it.  
    The felt, if not replaced, can be resurfaced with a strip of320 or 400 
grit wet or dry sandpaper, but run it over the edge of a piece of glass 
first, to knock loose any grit that may want to come off.  I do this 
resurfacing with the felt in the strings and just lightly dragging the paper 
backwards and forwards with the weight of the damper and its underlever 
supplying all the pressure. The middle string's felt surface is done by 
folding a thin strip of the paper into a wedge and then laid over the middle 
string.  Lift the damper, push the wedge under, and drop the felt down on it. 
pull it out carefully once or twice and you will have done all you can do. 
    Sometimes there is still noise, and you will have to tell them that the 
piano is so "alive" that the strings react to anything!  
Good luck, 
Ed Foote