Damper adjustment

Yes, I agree Giovanni, and also regarding the pre-cut felts recommended by the Maestro,

I will take this opportunity to personally advise anyone reading this post against doing the work alone; it is very "frustrating" and certainly ends up costing more (besides the fact that a person with many years of experience and the right tools takes a quarter of the time and the result is superior).

In this case, it does not depend on me, I am forced to because in my area (it seems paradoxical but it is so), it is truly difficult to convince someone to perform work that goes beyond ordinary tuning and regulation even if they are highly competent, or else it is done superficially without even trying to source the right material (from this I can only deduce laziness; they prefer to earn from routine jobs rather than complicating their lives).
This risk of not having an efficient instrument from one moment to the next makes me very insecure to the point of causing me distress, and both out of passion and to avoid ruining my health, I am thinking of starting to learn this second art. Anyone who has a good trusted technician should consider themselves very lucky.

Changing the subject, I have the possibility to choose between the complete and pre-cut series of Steinway felts, and that of Schimmel which, however, must be ordered to measure. Steinway costs less because it is mass-produced and obviously in higher demand; at this point, is it better for me to hybridize them? (also as a matter of higher quality).

To order dinars from Steinway, you need to provide the model and serial number of the instrument for which they are being ordered; what references would you give?

Pay attention also to the shape of the wood surface, as the cut of the bow changes depending on whether it is rectangular or trapezoidal. Furthermore, Steinway sends them without felt backing, which you would have to glue on separately.

I would ask the factory of your piano for the material, so that you can be sure.

giovannig wrote:

To order dinars from Steinway, you need to provide the model and serial number of the instrument for which they are being ordered; what references would you give?

Pay attention also to the shape of the wood surface; depending on whether it is rectangular or trapezoidal, the cut of the felt strip changes. Furthermore, Steinway sends them without underfelt, which you would have to glue on separately.

I would ask for the material from your piano's factory, so that you can be sure.

To Renner, I gave the top-of-the-range model as a reference, which is the Steinway D, and for now I have had only two strips sent to see how they go; then, if necessary, I will get the cut series (bass with two and three strings).

Yesterday the strips arrived and I mounted four of them to see how they perform. They dampen well, but I noticed anatomical differences compared to those in the video I linked below:

1) they are longer (I probably have to shorten them manually)

2) the "groove" is missing at the level of the last 3 millimeters that slide against the string (if I'm not mistaken, I think it's made with a sort of hot plate that I seem to have seen somewhere (??) )

minute 2:58

Open content (youtube)

In the video, he is installing mixed dampers, meaning one part prism and one part flat, which Steinway puts in the transition between the prisms and the flats for about ten dampers.

Which strips did you get? I assume three-string prism; are they long because perhaps they sent you two small pieces for testing? You obviously have to cut them yourself. The whole strip is actually more than half a meter long.

The Renner strip does not have a horizontal weave; it has nothing to do with Steinway felt, as they explained to you.

The instrument model is only useful if you order from the factory; the size of the tip for the grand is different from the baby grand.

Ordering the pre-cut series means giving Renner a reference length of the piano (A B. C,...) which will never match yours precisely, or (recommended) ordering the replacement from the factory (Schimmel?).

Ordering them from Steinway using model D as a reference only leads to messes, at least in my opinion.

Sorry, I actually expressed myself poorly; I meant they are "long" in terms of vertical height: from the bottom felt to the tip of the felt, I have the impression they measure 2-3 millimeters more than those in the video.

Yes, on my piano as well, in the central section, the dampers are "fork-shaped" in front and flat in the back.

I bought two strips 70 cm long, one prism-shaped for the 3 strings, and one wedge-shaped (for the 2 copper bass strings).

The prism strip for the 3 strings (after gradually cutting the felt into custom-sized pieces) I used for the first part of the central section (immediately after the bass crossing, in that difficult area) where they are fork-shaped both in front and in back.

I did it mostly to see if I like the overall effect and if they are functional, especially because the one in the corner wasn't dampening at all... extremely annoying (I have now replaced 6 in total, moving towards the treble). Not bad; perhaps I would want it a bit more progressive, but it is clean, with no trailing harmonics, after a lot of patience in adjustment.

I haven't finished the strip yet: I could complete the "prism-front and back" area if I wanted to.

Instead, speaking of the wedge for the 2 copper strings, I have replaced only one so far: the proportions of the damper are identical to those of my piano, and the dampening result is perfect.

The quality of the material is excellent in both strips; the felt is completely similar to what was originally glued on (unlike what the technician had put in a couple of dampers, which was completely different: the one I purchased is more "bushy" and dry, giving an impression of professionalism, whereas the technician's was very solid with a greater visual sense of "syntheticity" and the color was a brighter white).

In practice, what I would like to do is customize it—nothing against Schimmel, on the contrary—but usually Steinway patents are actually better for my tastes.

On a positive note, I noticed one characteristic: the new felt (of larger dimensions) transmits the string vibrations to the key much more, acting as a medium to the fingers.

P.S. To request material from the respective factories, do you have to write to the email address?

So, if the Steinway baby grand has a different damper size than the grand piano, well, mine is closer to the grand piano in terms of sonority and length (it's a Schimmel 208). Up to which model does Steinway use baby grand dampers? Does a B 211, for example, already feature felts the size of the Model D?
http://cdn.pianova.com/uploads/production/image/image/45242/f111780c-61a4-48bf-92f4-cb577e5c05c2.jpg

The strings are half a meter longer, which is a big deal; how does it have the dampers from the 211?

Anyway, if they work well, go ahead and use them, they can certainly be trimmed; keep in mind that they must not penetrate too far beyond the plane of the strings, one or two mm at most. And they must not cause the strings to resonate when they lift up.