Post - Miracle Mod Damper Issue

[Ackleberry]

People of Rhodes,
I am a new to the forum and I want to start off by saying this site is a godsend. I've been reading this site for about a month. Thank you all.

Heres my situation:

I have a 1977 week 44 Rhodes Mark 1. This Rhodes has the all plastic hammers with thew white felt on the bottom. I've performed the miracle mod, removing the white felt and putting new felt on the key block. I've run into an issue, many of the tines are only being "damper kissed" or fully sustaining. Before the repair everything sounded great and was fully functional. My best guess lies in the provided drawing. Black = Before Mod, Red = After Mod. I've come to think that the raised hammer at rest, due to the new bump, is pulling on the bridal strap. Enough to lower the dampers a few millimeters.

What is your assessment of my situation? Is this possible? In order to achieve proper height, the Rhodes manual mentions bending at point A, or bending right past where the bridal strap connects to the damper (page 4-4). I'd like to find out the best possible option so I can fix this the first go.

[Julian]

Hi Ackleberry,

To me it looks like you've put the miracle mod in at the wrong end of the pedestal.....

I'm sure some of the more knowledgable forum members will confirm if this is correct.

I hope this helps,

Kind Regards

Julian

[Ackleberry]

To me it looks like you've put the miracle mod in at the wrong end of the pedestal.....

Thanks for the comment! My Rhodes resembles your drawing when in stop lock position. My drawing is when the key isn't depressed, but at rest... on the bump, which is optimal for the bump mod.

[Julian]

OK, the drawing came from this thread http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=4666.0

Kind Regards
Julian

[Ben Bove]

I can see how this situation would happen if the bridle straps were originally nice and tight.  The simplest solution is to bend the ends of the damper arm up.  You want to make sure the bend is after the bridle strap point towards the end (if it were before, it would mess with how the bridle strap interacts). 

It's best performed with two hands - one holding the damper arm at the bridle strap point, and the other hand bending the end up.  This also prevents a bend in the very back where the damper arm connects to the action rail.

Too high of a bend up will result in hard-strike notes deadening out, as the tine hits the damper felt.  Too low obviously same problem - kissing tines only.  Also double check how they all react with the sustain pedal when finished.

[Ackleberry]

bjammers,

Great Advice. I slightly bend each damper upwards so they would all have a strong hold on the tine. If any damper stopped the tine from vibrating I then slightly re-bent the damper down a bit. Everything is sounding good! Thank you! I don't have a sustain pedal yet so when I get one I'll give it a test.

[echoisc]

Where was this thread when I was adding the miracle mod?  Good information all around.  Does anyone think the replacing the back rail felt will change how the key sits on the bumb?  Im going back in and replacing that felt because I really overlooked the importance of replacing when I was on my first overhaul attempt. Im assuming it will also help with noisy action and possible bouncing hammers.  Any experienced advisers on this?

[Ackleberry]

Does anyone think the replacing the back rail felt will change how the key sits on the bump?

I'm new to this forum but my best guess would be the that replacing the back rail felt wouldn't affect the location of the bump as long as it's the same thickness. If you want it to move the bump this way, it's not a very effective because the bump movement would be very minimal. It'd also raise your hammers giving you less distance when traveling to the tine.

Im assuming it will also help with noisy action and possible bouncing hammers.  Any experienced advisers on this?

I'd take the thing apart and listen to each key strike. Where is most of the noise coming from? Is it really the worn felt allowing the noise? Hammer bounce? Dampers slapping the hammer cam? Try to isolate it.
Hammer bounce = Back check mod.
Damper Slap = Locate whats hitting what. Try to correct it first by bending the damper.

[Ben Bove]

Thanks for the note that it would be helpful to include in the write-up, I'll add to the overall post.