Too efficient dampers?

[Sarah Fox]

Hi John (and Terry),

> I have always known that Yamaha had an extremely efficient damper system.
> The cut-off is almost instantaneous.
> A music teacher at a boarding school, where I tune the pianos is
> contemplating the purchase of something else, the present grands, would
cost
> too much to bring up to a good level.
> Anyway, he said he hated Yamahas, and I thought brightness of tone, but we
> narrowed his dislike, down to the sound being cut off too abruptly.
> Have others heard of this complaint?
> If they have, were they able to solve the problem to the customers
> satisfaction, and what did they do?

I regularly play pianos ranging from a very harsh cutoff (my Hamilton) to a
rather sluggish cutoff (my friend's Knabe, which needs new damper felts).  I
tend to get used to whatever I'm playing, after I've had time to practice on
it for at least a few days.  However, I do dislike too abrupt a cutoff, just
like the music teacher.  I think this dislike might be similar to a dislike
of "dead" acoustical environments (which also bother me in an aesthetic
sense).

I'm very interested in the thoughts of others on this subject.  I'll
probably be wanting to replace the dampers on my Wissner grand and would be
interested in achieving a "medium" damping action -- nothing too
abrupt/efficient/Yamaha-ish.  Any recommendations as to replacement
material????

Peace,
Sarah