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Hi everyone. Well my 1903 Steinway O was delivered today. I noticed however, that when I depress the sustain pedal (right pedal), there is a string vibration sound: it appears that when the dampers are raised, the strings very softly vibrate. Any ideas of what is going on? Your help is greatly appreciated.

Brian

The damper felts, particularly the wedge felts, rub against the strings as they are lifted. Some noise is normal.

Thank for your fast response BDB. Your answer is reassuring. The sound seems quite predominent though. Think there might be something wrong, or am I being too fussy?

Yes.

My piano does this to a small degree. Character.

Thanks. I feel reassured and thrilled to be a Steinway owner. It's a beauty and the folks on this board are great - event the Steinway bashers!

Hi nylawbiz,

I'm surprised nobody here has said this yet... congratulations on your new piano!

How about posting some pics?

nylawbiz,

Congratulations on your new arrival!

Damper woosh sound is perfectly normal. It can often be heard on recordings of pianos. I happen to like the effect and it is one distinguishing feature of an acoustic over a digital.

fingers

Thanks for the congrats!!! A link to pics have been posted on the thread about my considerations regarding buying the piano.

These are the pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nylawbiz/SteinwayO?feat=directlink

Please let me know what you folks think. Thanks again!!!

Wow, that's a beautiful instrument. I'm jealous

The wood and finish look exactly the same as my mother's Gors & Kallman which is about the same age, and is the piano I grew up playing.

Thanks HNB. I am justing getting to know the piano, but it is beautiful to hear and see for sure. The 17,900 price tag was very reasonable, considering it had a full Steinway rebuild in 1990 (including a new soundboard). I never thought I would owner such a wonderful piano. Now I need to advance my piano skills, so I can get the most out of her.

Again, I must say that this forum was an invaluable asset in educating myself about Steinways and pianos in general, and obtaining good advice on this major purchase for my family.

That *is* one pretty piano. Congratulations, nylawbiz!

The damper 'whisper' is normal, nylawbiz... but it's also true that in some cases the damper pedal assembly may not be adjusted optimally resulting in a greater than normal/optimal noise. Given that you just had the piano moved, *maybe* that's going on. When you have your tech out to tune it in a couple of weeks, he/she will be able to tell you immediately if what you're hearing is in the normal range or not.

p.s. Oh, and welcome to the forum, HNB!

Thanks Monica, I'll make sure the tech looks at it. The piano definitely is an incentive to practice!

Fingers,

Careful what you wish for! If you purists make enough noise, Yamaha will sample it in for you. If that's not good enough, Roland will model it for you mathematically. If you're still not happy, Industrial Light and Magic will offer you a software piano with a whoosh to end all whooshes.

nylawbiz,

Excuse my impertinent outburst! Congratulations on your Steinway!

So that's what it's called!
I just got an acoustic piano this summer after playing a digital for 15+ years. That sound is one of the things I love about it.

Congratulations on your Steinway O!

Congratulations!

Do you hear the damper sound when playing or just when you test the dampers without playing?

My tech told me there is something special(can't remember the details)that is sometimes done in recording studios to minimize the damper sound.

Thank you everyone for the congrats.

When you play music you might find that the sound it relegated as you luxuriate in the sound...
Good choice.