A distinguishing characteristic of an acoustic piano is the damper system. Most musical instruments do not have this. The player will dampen the sound by hand or tongue. Pianos, being a percussive stringed instrument, are very different due to the high-tension scale and broad note range.A piano commonly has 88 notes with a fundamental frequency range between 27.5hz. (cycles per second) to more than 4,000hz. As well, when played a piano will produce and amazing harmonic timbre exceeding 10,000 cycles per second. If not controlled this vast spectrum of sound will blend and create overwhelming volume, discord and inharmonicity. Each note from the lowest up to within the 6th octave (this varies among pianos) is equipped with a damper mechanism. As the key is played the damper raises off the strings allowing the strings to vibrate. As the key is released the damper returns to rest against the strings, silencing, or dampening the note. Nearly all acoustic pianos have a pedal on the right which collectively raises all the dampers. This is usually referred to as the damper, sustain, or loud pedal. When rebuilding a piano, the damper mechanism is reconditioned, and the damper felts are replaced. These pictures show: • English Walnut damper heads before and after polishing. English Walnut wood was used for aesthetic enhancement. In the early 1900’s as piano makers needed to find ways to control manufacturing cost, they began to stop using the more expensive walnut and turned to closed-pore hardwood, such as poplar or maple, painted black.• Damper felt being cut to length. Four different styles of felt are used. Block felt for upper tenor and treble unisons (3 strings per note). Double wedge felt for low tenor triple unisons, Single wedge for double unison wound strings, and unichord felt for single strings.

• Damper lift assembly installed internally under the belly rail• Damper heads with new felt• Dampers being installed into the damper mechanism• Completion