Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Reason for buzz found and fixed

I have had an odd buzz or zing that occurred when playing 2 notes (keys # 71 and #72) in the second last octave for the last couple months and I found the reason tonight and corrected the problem. The noise didn't occur 100% of the time, and of course didn't happen when my tuner/tech was onsite twice, but it did occur way too frequently to disregard it. Well, it turns out it was due to the damper wires for those two notes being too close to the third string. Depending on how hard you played those notes, that third string was vibrating enough to hit the damper wire and make the sound. I was easily able to replicate the sound 100% of the time by bending the wire toward the string a little more, and then eliminated the noise by putting the damper wire in the correct shape to avoid it.
Looking back, I was so close to determining the problem when I was using mutes to silence the individual strings and had clearly decided the issue must have been with the third string on each note; but it wasn't until I had the action out of the piano (to work on felt replacements) that I noticed the cause very readily. Looking up at the strings from the empty "action-cavity", the problem was immediately obvious.

So, the buzzes are gone and the fix only required correcting damper wires.

Whew! It's kinda like finally getting to an itch you can't scratch. Congrat's!

I've dealt with that kind of buzz before. It usually only happens when you hit the note real hard so with just normal playing it doesn't buzz.

These things don't just happen. What you fixed is often merely a symptom.

Check the location and tightness of screws of the damper guide rail. Also the tightness and location of the mounting blocks for the damper lift tray. A mm or two in either of these locations can cause your symptom.

Be prepared to unfix your fix. Best have a tech qualified in grand dampers have a look sometime.

Thanks for the tips, guys.
What is obvious about the dampers is that the damper wires on my piano are not consistently shaped or "bent". Also, the holes in the damper wire-guide are simply not consistently located. I imagine this was simply due to poor workmanship when it was made---primarily due to the fact that my piano is the brand that everyone says was so sloppily made. (I actually didn't list the brand when I posted this thread specifically because I figured it would quickly divert into a critique of this being typical of the poor workmanship from this manufacturer.) ;-)

The fix "only" required correcting damper wire bends?

I can't speak for others, but bending damper wires is still a slightly terrifying subject for me.

Well, the alternate fix, only suitable where there is a capo bar instead of agraffes, is to move the strings. You use a string spacer and tap it from one side with a hammer. However, bending the wires is not difficult, with the proper tools.