Plate Ringing

[Farrell]

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I am aware of one problem with the 45" Steinways, but it seems like it =
may be different from your description - here goes anyway. Strike A#3 =
and any of the other keys within two or three steps from there. Do you =
notice a little bell (in addition to the regular tone of the note) going =
off with each note (individual pianos will have different notes that =
have this feature more or less prominently)? Is this the type of sound =
you might be hearing?
 =20
I had Steinway's head concert tech, Something Patterson (I think that =
was his name), poke around my 1098 for quite a while and decided the =
noise was not a sympathetic vibration, not voicing, not tuning, but =
rather likely a defect in the plate at the upper string termination. =
Nasty, nasty noises.

"One interesting note here. This piano was just purchased three months =
ago. I looked it up in the Atlas, it was produced in '96."

:-)   Yeah, and I'll bet they got a real good deal on it at a University =
Sale! (Don't get me GOING!)

And to quote the tech at my local Steinway dealer: "You'll get used to =
it - just learn to tune it out from your hearing!"

Boy, I was clutching my tuning hammer real tight for a while after that =
- just glad I didn't have it in hand when he said that!


  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Kevin E. Ramsey=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 10:46 PM
  Subject: Plate Ringing


      I had an odd occurrence today that I really hope that you all can =
help me with. I had a customer who has a new Steinway model 4510 (model =
45?) studio, with damper problems. When I got out there, it's kind of a =
damper problem, but not really. The problem is;

  A)  The whole piano rings, when you play a chord or any note in a =
staccato fashion.

  B)  The pedals are not lifting the dampers.

  C) The spoons are not too early, the strings have plenty of follow.

  D) The dampers are aligned properly.=20

      In short, no real problem with the damper system. What I did =
notice while working on the trapwork was that if I stuck the plate with =
the heel of my hand, the whole piano would ring. When you struck the =
piano anywhere, it would ring.=20
      I did notice that some of the bi-chords where indented by the =
strings, but they had plenty of follow-through.
      The waste ends on the hitch pin side of the strings were already =
braided.=20
      I tried striking notes with my hand on groups of strings, and no =
effect. I strummed groups of notes and found nothing leaking. And yet =
the whole piano had a real ring to it.=20

      I'm just wondering if the plate, being sand cast, could have =
warped and twisted enough to cause some weird tension on it which would =
cause it to ring like a bell. I mean, if something as massive as a plate =
wanted to ring, could you really expect the energy to go up the strings =
to be damped by little pieces of felt? =20
      I hope that someone can help me out. Tomorrow I call Kent Webb, =
and see if he can help.
      One interesting note here. This piano was just purchased three =
months ago. I looked it up in the Atlas, it was produced in '96.
       =20


  Kevin E. Ramsey
  ramsey@extremezone.com=20

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