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The rod which adjusts the damper pedal on my piano (Kawai grand) keeps slipping. I'm wondering if it's possible for me to take care of this, or do I need my tech? What happens is: as I play, the damper pedal develops a thump and I just twist the rod, which stops the thumps. However, the adjustment doesn't last - sometimes I have to adjust it several times over a period of 2 hours if I have to use the pedal a lot. Any thoughts? TIA

Ask your tech at the next tuning to check it out. In the meantime, to keep your sanity, you can dab a small amount of yellow or white glue on the threads that you keep having to adjust. Give it some time to dry, and that should stop the loosening problem until that tuning comes up. Just dont overdo the glue, not much is needed. It should take care of the problem and save you a service charge, as it will be cheaper for the tech to check out the pedals when he is already there for tuning work..............Sam

I see Sam was quicker than I was. Anyway, I had thumping in the pedal due to the rubber gasket discussed below and fixed it myself. Perhaps I'm a bit too adventurous...

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Remove the rod from where it rests in the damper pedal and inspect the rod. There should be a rubber fitting covering the end of the metal rod. Sometimes the rubber dries out and disintegrates resulting in improper seating of the rod causing it to move and "thump".

If this is the problem, I'm guessing your local piano store would have the rubber fitting. Make sure you vacuum out the 'well' in the pedal where the rod sits to get out the little bits of the old rubber fitting before reseating the rod with the new fitting.

Derick

Thanks for the advice. The glue appears to have done the trick.