Steinway Damper Afterring

[Jon Page]

At 09:32 PM 12/27/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Greetings All! I hope your holiday season is going well.  I have a problem
>with a Steinway B that I would like some input on before I make my final
>diagnosis and fix.  The pianist who uses this instrument has recently begun
>to complain of a symptom that I was finally able to interpret as afterring,
>i.e., the dampers are not cutting off the sound when the keys are released,
>particularly in the bass section.  The string follow and pedal adjustments
>are all within the usual specs, so it seems that the fault lies with the 20
>year old felt.  I've heard much worse afterring which the piano owners were
>oblivious to, but this pianist is a very high level classical performer and
>is not willing to keep using the instrument until the problem is fixed.  Are
>there any other reasons for this afterring that I might be overlooking that
>I could check before proceeding with felt replacement? Also, would you
>recommend Steinway replacement  felt, or is there better felt available?
>Thanks for your time and advice advance, Patrick Poulson, RPT
> 

Lots of good suggestions but I would like to add a possible need to
adjust the assist spring tension. Depending on the age of the piano
they might be absent.  A new set of underlevers is in order if the sostenuto
tab is older stiff style. Is this a 20 yr old piano?

To adjust he tension, I can't think of any other way than to remove the
lifter tray from the piano. In the Renner USA Underlever Replacement Kit
there is a suggested weight/tension for each section.

Twenty year old felt should still be OK but with a critical customer such as
this,
I would go ahead and replace the damper felt and the guide rail felt.

Regards,

Jon Page,   piano technician
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass.
mailto:jonpage@mediaone.net
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