Pianotech

  • 1.  Felt quality query

    Posted 04-06-2021 14:45
    The felt dampers on the midrange of my Yamaha upright keep shredding to pieces.

    I notice that the low range dampers are made of sterner felt. They never shred.

    But the midrange dampers that look so nice and neat when they have just been installed start to shred, sometimes within days.

    I live in a humid climate--San Francisco, land of picturesque fog, which means land of air-bound water, a lot of it salty.

    But if you say the humidity is the problem, the truth is I cannot move in order to make my piano happy.

    I do use dehumidifiers.

    But if the dampers on the bass strings are sturdy enough to last in this climate, why are mid-range dampers of the same sturdier felt not available?

    When I buy dampers for midrange, they are never made of the stronger felt.

    Could I actually USE one of the bass dampers to replace a mid-range damper?






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    Hank Mooney
    San Francisco CA
    415-640-2731
    [Hank]
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  • 2.  RE: Felt quality query

    Member
    Posted 04-06-2021 18:01
    You need to post more information about the piano such as the model , age of the piano, if it was new/used/rebuilt and if it was seasoned for the US market and not a gray market . It sounds like the felt has been replaced a few times- where did it come from and who put it on ?  Perhaps the damper need a good regulation to both the pedal and the key . By chance are the strings rusty and is the damper alignment with the strings correct ? 

    Do you have any detailed records of the humidity ? It would behoove you to place a data logger in the piano to record what it is experiencing 24 x 7 over a two week period. Room dehumidifiers may not be doing enough and it would probably be worthwhile to have at least a partial dampp-chaser/piano life saver in the piano. Shredding to pieces is hard to envision so maybe posting some pictures will help. You could have some rodents i.e. mice or even bugs/moths doing a number on the felt.

    I just pulled a small mouse nest out of a Yamaha console and the felt practice rail was chewed up on the middle strip of felt

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    James Kelly
    Owner- Fur Elise Piano Service
    Pawleys Island SC
    843-325-4357
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    Original Message