Noisy action

[Susan Kline]

Hi, André

>OK, so if I understand correctly, Susan, you apply vodka to the cloth
>underneath the wippen?

Yes, just a little, to the dent, with the action stack upside down.


>If there are serious dents in the cloth, why not just renew it? It is clear
>to most of us, I think, that this is the main reason for action noise?
Well, this is for pianos where there isn't time or money to renew it.
I like this idea because I can make a difference in just a few minutes. Also,
with new cloth one will have to adjust the hammer blow, have it played
in, and then come back and adjust it again. If the old cloth in the dent
gets just a _little_ bit fluffier, it probably will go back to what it
had been when it was last regulated. Or at least, one can hope so.

If the old cloth can be convinced that it should act like young cloth,
why not? It's already there. No need to haul the thing to your shop,
either.

Of course, one has to evaluate what sort of results one is getting ...
I haven't done the wippen cloth with vodka much, but I use it on bright
hammers more and more, and I really like the results. I particularly
like not having to remove felt. With a cautious and abstemious hand,
two passes, and a little needling to even things out, a brash piano
can be wonderfully improved in 20 minutes or so.

Best,

Susan