Bridle straps in bass section are loose?

[alexdecker]

Hi all

Just noticed that my damper release bar is pushing slightly down on the damper arms in the leftmost bass octave on my '72 Rhodes. This is resulting in a loose bridal strap and I dont have enough clearance of the dampers, so getting clonks and donks when playing in the bass octave.

Is there a way to tighten up the straps, or what would be the best solution for this problem?

– Alex

[alexdecker]

Actually, after closer inspection, it would seem that the whole that is drilled in the harp support for the securing of the damper release bar is drilled juuuuust a little but too low. Which is resulting in the whole bass section (about an octave) is getting pushed slightly down, when securing the damper release bar.

So much for owning a Buz Watson piano...

– Alex

[Ben Bove]

Are you getting notes that are ringing out because the damper bar is holding them down, and they're not stopping the tines?

Also, check to see if the tines themselves are hitting the whole damper bar - in many early 70s pianos, when you physically push the tines down at the ends, they collide with the damper bar.

You might see scratch marks from where the damper bar has been nicked up by swinging tines.

[alexdecker]

Are you getting notes that are ringing out because the damper bar is holding them down, and they're not stopping the tines?

Also, check to see if the tines themselves are hitting the whole damper bar - in many early 70s pianos, when you physically push the tines down at the ends, they collide with the damper bar.

You might see scratch marks from where the damper bar has been nicked up by swinging tines.

Nope, the tines are not hitting the damper bar.

And no, the dampers arms are not clearing the tine enough, resulting in them still damping a little bit when hitting the tine. Yesterday I thought that was because the damper release bar was slacking the bridal straps in the bass section, but when thinking more about it, it could only be because the bridal straps in the bass section is too short, therefore not getting pulled down enough to clear the tine when striking a note.

Does that make sense?

– Alex

[voltergeist]

Sounds to me like the damper arms are just not adjusted properly.