Damper trimming

[Brian Lawson]

Hi, which make of piano was this?  For myself, I've had similar complaints 
and noticed it on Kawai's RX series - though not on earlier KG series. 
Personally I find the Kawais better than Yamahas of similar size/design 
apart from this. More fuel to the Kawai versus Yamaha on the public piano 
lists :)

Brian


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Piannaman@aol.com
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 5:12 PM
Subject: Damper trimming


List,

I did my first job of damper trimming yesterday morning.  The owner had a 
legitimate complaint.  The whoosh was noticeable even playing one note at a 
time.  You could feel the damper being forced out between the strings from 
the key. When using the pedal, it was really distracting.

Slicing the first chunks of felt off of a new 7 foot grand was a bit 
nerve-racking, but it wasn't really difficult at all. I got pretty good at 
it by the 25th one...

Removed the action
placed a block under the tray to make reinstallation/regulation of wires a 
bit easier
pulled the dampers out one at a time
cut along the string line/indentation on the damper with VERY sharp fabric 
shears
burnished teflon powder into the dampers, as well as the damper guide rail
replaced wire
regulated.

It took a little over two hours to do the whole thing.  I suspect that I 
could it could be done substantially more quickly with some experience.

The bottom line?  The piano sounds markedly better.  One can play softly and 
use the pedal without being overwhelmed by damper noise.

Just thought I'd share with all of you who have thought of doing this job, 
or any that might have other input on  it.

Dave Stahl