Tine noise

[The Duke Of Prunes]

I've been doing some work on my Fender Rhodes and I need some help. I'm getting some unwanted noise. It seems like it's coming from the dampers. As if they aren't fully dampening when they should and the tine vibrates a bit extra. Once the key is released there is an extra sound from the damper coming up on the tine.

I've attached a sound file. You can hear it the most on the bottom half of the piano.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions to help remedy this. Thanks.

[pianotuner steveo]

That does not sound like malfunctioning dampers. Having said that, I know I've heard that sound before but I do not remember the cause.

[Tehu]

Dampers sticking the pickups? Or maybe too bend so they come too close to the pickup?

[Ben Bove]

First thing to check would be that your damper felts are high enough to stop the lower tines.  Try bending the tips of the damper arms up slightly, and see if the "kissing" after-effect goes away.

If that doesn't help, it may be that your damper arms don't have enough tension.  On the notes that you hear the "kissing" on the tine after release, look inside - are the damper felts bouncing around off of the tine after you release the key?

If the damper arm doesn't have enough tension from where it's attached to the action rail, the tine's swing will be stronger than the damper can counteract it to stop moving.  So, the felts sort of start bouncing off the tine as it tries to stop its movement.

You would have to lift up the harp, remove the sustain rail, and unscrew the offending damper arms.  Check to see if they are straight when unscrewed from the action rail, and try bending the arm so it's a little more concave before putting it back in.

[pianotuner steveo]

I guess I don't hear what you all are hearing... I was listening for continued sustain after the dampers returned, but instead I hear a different noise. Not really a clicking sound, but something odd..

[pnoboy]

In acoustic pianos, it is known and universally accepted that to properly damp the bass notes, the dampers need some amount of mass in addition to force.  The dampers on a Rhodes are especially light, and a bit of mass added to the dampers may go a long way to help damp the lower notes.  I'll have to try it one of these days.

[Student Rhodes]

The most out of character noise I'm hearing sounds more like a metal to metal contact sound.  Perhaps some mis-aligned tines are hitting a pickup, tone bar or (very unlikely) neighboring tine?

[pianotuner steveo]

That sounds more like what I am hearing. A metal to metal sound.