noisy sustain pedal on suitcase

[bluepno]

Hi, This is my first post here. I have a noisy pedal in the amp section of my 1973 fender rhodes suitcase piano. What is involved with cleaning up the sound? There are loud scraping and grating sounds when depressing and releasing the pedal. Thanks from, bluepno.

[Rob A]

Check for a loose ground wire connected to the damper release bar.

[garagebandking41]

Also sometimes they get knocked out of place and make odd sounds if something is jammed or a screw is loose. If its not a mechanical noise not coming through the speakers it might just be something slightly off.

My stage gets outta wack sometimes when moved a lot.

[suitcase'81]

Do you mean the sustain pedal is making that noise?

if it's the sustain pedal in your suitcase bottom
unscrew the audience side grill to get in and see what's going on.

a little lube goes a long way..

[pianotuner steveo]

If it is a mechanical noise, also check to see if the ends of the pedal rod have some sort of a cushion on them such as rubber or felt.I don't remember if they had something there originally, but as a piano tech, I am constantly adding felt to piano pedal rods to reduce noise. Ideally,thick leather is the best thing to use,rubber will eventually fall apart.Felt (I.E.  a green front rail punching) lasts a long time.

[bluepno]

Thanks for the fast replies...this is a great site. I had the instrument rebuilt last year and it used to be mint until I left it in the basement for ten years. Life kind of got in the way. Now it sits in the studio alongside my Ivers and Pond. It's great to have it up and running with rebuilt speakers and all. ..I guess it's time to get the screwdriver out and check out some of these suggestions. You folks are the best.

[dnarkosis]

Check out the suggestion for damper push-rod assembly top felt: here:
http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=4912
You can find these things in different sizes and thicknesses.

[pianotuner steveo]

I have used these in the past,but the glue doesn't hold forever. I have better luck with felt punchings and wood glue, or you can use these and reglue them if you have trouble later.

[Harrygriffiths211]

Sorry for digging up an old topic, Loving my rhodes but some minor things I would like to address, quite a lot of mechanical noise in the pedal/push rod when im using it... Should I apply some grease in contact areas? or some lighter spray oil? I saw people mentioned putting some cushioning on the end of the push rod, would this be worth a shot?

[rhodesjuzz]

Because of the bass boost my guess is you have a stage model It has been 20 years ago I had my stage Rhodes. Are the noises coming from the pedal or the top of the rod where it pushes up the sustain dowel?

--Roy

[Harrygriffiths211]

Yep that's right its a stage, I think there's a bit of noise coming from the pedal but mostly from the top of the rod/dowel

[rhodesjuzz]

You can put some new felt on the dowel but the noises may also come from the damper assembly. If you remove the harp cover it may be easier to distinguish.... Good luck

--Roy

[Ben Bove]

Good suggestion, on stage models the noise usually comes from the sustain bar coming to rest on top of the dowel inside the piano, and the felt either missing or being hardened.

Another much easier check as well, is to make sure your sustain rod is actually adjusted to the correct length.  If it's a bit too short in adjustment, the rod will disengage and makes a hard contact when you step on it.  Try adjusting a bit longer and see what happens.

[pnoboy]

Im rebuilding my stage piano, I found the sustain mechanism a bit clanky.  I replaced the felt bushings on the top and bottom of the sustain rod.  Like pianotuner steveo suggested, good quality felt intended for acoustic pianos held down with wood glue is lots better than the stick-on stuff from the hardware store.  I also wrapped some thinner felt around part of the push rod, as it was plenty loose in the hole.

I also noticed that the extrusion that the rod bears against had a bit of side-to-side slop in it, so I fashioned a felt washer to go between one end of the extrusion and the harp support brackets.

Finally, someone floated the idea of using grease. Don't do it!!!

[pianotuner steveo]

Or spray oil either!

[Harrygriffiths211]

I removed the pedal + pushrod from underneath my stage today and it's become clear that the creaky noises are being emited from the inside of the piano. Is there any easy fix for this or is the source of this kind of sound not too easy to get to?

[pianotuner steveo]

Are you saying that the noise is coming from the big aluminum damper bar at the pivot points?

There should be a set screw on the ends of the bar for the pivots. The pivots slide into a channel. Assuming you have taken the harp off, you should be able to access this easily and remove the bar. You should be able to get it out just by loosening one side. This is one spot that a thick grease may help, (In the piano part that the pivots go into, not the channel in the bar) but be careful not to get it anywhere else. And be extra careful as to not lose the pivots or their set screws. It's been a while since I've done this, there may be nylon bushings there- I just don't remember.

I'm sure someone else will chime in...

[jasonlim9090]

If it's a mechanical noise, just oil it like how you would oil a hinge. Not too much though!

Cheers,
Jason
www.singaporepianohub.com

[pnoboy]

I would not use any kind of oil or grease.  Consider what the mechanism is.  First you have the metal push rod pushing against a felt pad on the bottom of a wooden dowel--no oil or grease needed there.  Then you have a felt pad on the top of the dowel pushing against the sustain-bar extrusion--no oil or grease needed there.  Then you have rods on the ends of the sustain extrusion in plastic bushings--metal and plastic bearing like that need no lubrication.

So what are the sources of noise?  Hardened or compacted felt on the top and bottom of the wooden dowel--change it.  The side of the wooden dowel bumping against the hole it's in--some thin felt helps.  The plastic bushings loose in the end extrusions--add some tape or glue the bushings in with a bit of silicone rubber adhesive (easy to remove later if you need to).  The dowel rod hangs from a crosswise pin--make sure there is felt between it and the support.