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#2233791 02/18/14 03:53 PM
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My tech adjusted the dampers and when I now slowly release the dampers, some notes dampen earlier than others. Particularly, the middle area seems to dampen, then the bass, and then the treble. Is that ok (so I need to release quicker?) or should they start to dampen all exactly at the same point?


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That does not sound right to me.
I'm only a DIYer, but on my own and my daughter's uprights I try to make all notes damp at the same point of pedal release - it does take some time to regulate this.
Further more I have a "one time concert pianist" as a friend and he has told me that one can use partial damping for good effect. This means that all dampers would be only exerting a portion of their maximum pressure - thus the pianist would have the sustain only partially depressed.

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The short answer is that correctly regulated dampers should all lift together when the sustaining pedal is used. Only when this is precisely done, can partial pedalling be achieved.


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Some like the bass to lift early and some like the bass to dampen early. For the most part I would think the majority of technicians would like to see them lift simultaneously or there is the possibility of that whoosh sound when the pedal is used on soft passages.

There is also the advantage of having the front of the damper lift earlier that the rear.

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What condition were the dampers in before the tech adjusted them ? If they were in quite bad shape he may have made a few adjustments to greatly improve them within the time allotted to him. A full damper regulation takes time and may not be the best idea on some lesser pianos or due to economic and time constraints.
Quite often a tuner alots 2 hours for tuning, if he gets done in 1hr40 he may decide on some small regulation adjustments to improve things
Having said that Ideally they should lift pretty much at the same time.

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If it is important for you to have all dampers damp all of the strings at exactly the same time when you release the sustain pedal you need to tell your technician.
Whenever I regulate an action I will always do it this way unless someone specifically asks for different.
Ideally if they all lift simultaneous, they all damp simultaneous but not necessarily.

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I am assuming you have a grand piano.

If your key end felts are worn-the damper lift with the pedal can be even-but the key lift timing will be later on the keys with more worn felt. Most pianist would want the pedal lift to be a priority over key lift timing. Installing new key felts is not a big ticket item. Most techs would need the action to go to their shop-so there is down time.


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Thanks !

Yes this is a grand piano (Grotrian 189)

I'm pretty sure the felt is not worn. They all had been replaced when I bought the piano about 5 years ago

He found a piece of felt was missing in the damper mechanism. Inserting a piece changed the overall damper setting. The overall lever could not be adjusted so he fixed all individual dampers instead.


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Sounds like the person who did the work needs to read this.


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Grotrians usually have the type of damper under-lever that has a bendable metal spoon that engages the key-end felt. These can be adjusted individually for damper-lift-timing-by-the-key adjustments.

Regulating dampers requires the proper tools and jigs to get everything even and precise. Not all technicians are good at it because they get little practice at it.

Talk to your technician about your concerns. Give him/her the chance to get it right for you unless you have lost confidence in them.


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Thanks for all the feedback. The tech is coming tomorrow to fix this. He said it was like this before. I don't really think so :-/


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He fixed it, no extra charge smile

Yes he showed me the levers, it's basically just turning the knobs there.

Actually it still took him quite some time to get it all right. Apparently it's all very sensitive to get 100% I wonder how much time it would cost without those levers, it's hard to imagine how you would stuggle if these were plain rod-through-hole things as apparently are on most pianos.



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