Yamaha lid

[Ron Nossaman]

Got an annoying little glitch with a GH1 Disklavier lid. When it's up on
the prop (where she prefers it, naturally), it rattles when she tromps on
the pedal(s). The front part of the lid rests on the main lid at the bass
end, but floats off the treble end by a little less than a millimeter. When
the piano is jiggled, they slap together. After about twenty minutes of
demonstrating repeatedly in every way, and from every direction I could
think of, I FINALLY got it across to her that the noise wasn't coming from
the pedal, even though she could make the noise happen with the pedal. I
have no idea why this is such a tough concept for people, but it sure seems
to be. Anyway, she wants it to go away, naturally, without the addition of
any rubber bumpers or any such thing installed on the lid, a wish with
which I can certainly sympathize. I suspect that a couple of more months on
the prop will see the pieces sagging together and becoming quiet, but she
wanted something a little more immediate and positive. Again, I can
sympathize. Since I didn't want to go dinking with the hinge alignment to
try to fake it, and didn't have anything else more intelligent to offer, I
thought I'd try he left field approach. You know that lovely but mysterious
monogrammed strip of felt that ships with new Yamahas, and is presumably to
lay over the keys when the piano isn't in use? What the heck is that really
for? It's a mystery, but I thought it might get me out of this one. I
suggested that it be laid across the main lid, between the main part, and
the folded back front, to make a full width pad. It's already the right
length, it says "Yamaha" right on it, so it seems reasonably plausible
that's what it's for in the first place (rather than to cover the keys),
and it will both stop the noise, and keep the lids from scratching each
other. That's when I found out that she liked the idea, but didn't get the
mystery felt with the piano. Great, there goes my chance to be an on-site
hero. We called the store, explained the theory, got assurances that
someone would bring out a mystery felt ASAP, and I took some measurements
to make brackets to mount her speakers et al under the piano, and left.  

I'm waiting to hear back so I can go mount the speakers and... 

So then, what's the mystery felt really supposed to be for, and why isn't
the "between lids scratch and rattle prevention" use as good as any?


Ron N