A question that often arises from our customers is that regarding a "noisy action." Most are unaware of the thousands of moving parts that make a grand action and damper system function, and must be educated as to the normal mechanical sounds of these components. Yet there are steps that can be taken to minimize action noise and enhance performance. All rails, brackets, flanges and other screws, bolts, and hardware must be tight. The rest felts for the hammer shanks and keytails must be soft and resilient, and the (keytail) felt on the keyframe must be glued down properly, only along the front edge. And the felts on the keytail ends themselves, which contact the damper levers, must be in good condition as well. Hardened, indented capstan cushions on the wippen heels can add unwanted noise, as can worn key bushings (front and/or balance rail), and loose hammer head glue joints which contribute a "woody, knocking" sound to the tonal production. Do not forget the damper lever flange screws and any tray/hanger bracket mounts, and check for loose damper wires in the damper heads; also tighten the damper wire screws and their threaded "barrels" if they are loose in the damper levers. But perhaps the most overlooked source of extraneous noise in a grand action is the knuckles.

Even knuckles that are round and still appear in good condition (and do not need bolstering or total replacement) can be too hard and often benefit from some extra attention. Briskly brushing the buckskin with a brass-bristle suede brush will raise the nap and noticeably quiet the function of these parts, as can deep needling with a voicing tool, both from the sides into the core felt, as well as straight through the buckskin into the interior. And finally be certain that the top of the jacks are very slightly below the tops of the balancier lever windows. Eliminating direct jack contact with the knuckle not only accelerates repetition, but because the balancier lever is "spring loaded" (and acts as a shock absorber) and supports the knuckle/shank, the transmission of noise through the jack to the wippen, capstan, key and frame upon hammer return is thereby greatly reduced.

Before my brief tech tip, I'd like to extend my best wishes for the holidays to all our members, and I hope to see as many as possible at our party on December 2nd.

Old Yamaha verticals have strings on their butt flanges that tend to break. When I had this problem, I used to take each one off and scrape out the indentation so I could glue a new piece of string in place. This job is not easy, and getting each one exactly the same size is also difficult. I soon realized I would better off replacing the flanges with new ones, which cost thirty dollars from Yamaha. If it takes me 6 hours to glue new strings on, I would be valuing my time at $5 an hour. Needless to say, I never glue new strings on flanges anymore.