Sustain pedal repair

[derschoenebahnhof]

I have a Solo-Riga upright. Yeah I know, it's a Russian piano (Latvian to be exact), but my wife bought it new quite a while ago and for the price, it's decent... except for the squeaky pedal 

I saw the felt around the pedal opening is all worn out and cracked. I want to replace it. Any advice on what kind of felt to use? Just go to the fabrics store? Next step will be removing the action and looking at the damper bar which seems to be the main source of squeaking.

Cheers,
CG

[keys60]

You can buy felt from Vandaking or pianoparts.com. I use Schaff but its difficult to set up an account there if you aren't in the trade. The sites should say which is the suitable felt. The felt around the pedals is pretty thick.

[derschoenebahnhof]

Oh ok. It looks like "Scarlet Bushing Cloth" on pianoparts.com

Thanks for the info!
CG

[keys60]

Really, you can use any fairly dense felt that can be cut to size. Its just for noise reduction.

[derschoenebahnhof]

Yeah, I just discovered pianoparts.com has a minimum order of $35... for a part I would need that is just $8.

I'll try to find felt in a fabrics store. I want the scarlet one, it's prettier 

Thanks,
CG

[keys60]

They don't have the greatest quality tools either, but some items suffice.

[john90]

I was happy with Heckshers of London, when I placed my last parts order. Google fond this web link to their catalogue:

https://www.piano-tuners.org/heckscher/hec_cati.html

[derschoenebahnhof]

Hmm, except I live in the US :-)

Funny how these piano parts web sites seem stuck in the past. Pianoparts requires you manually write down the item numbers and then reenter them in a form for ordering ... 

Just ranting   

Cheers,
CG

[keys60]

Yea. I don't love them myself, nor the overall quality of their items, but a few things here and there......

[derschoenebahnhof]

Fixed! bought 1 sheet of felt for $.34 at local fabrics store. Took action out, removed damper rail hinges, put new felt, put them back and replaced felt in pedal mechanism. Pedal is quiet now.

Now I have buzzing on the nameboard / fallboard. I know it's there because if I hold the fallboard with my hand, buzzing stops. Any idea? Put some felt near where the fallboard is attached?

Thanks,
CG

[keys60]

Check for loose screws on the fallboard. Same happened to me.

[derschoenebahnhof]

Argh, I did check all the screws, they are all tight 

Would adding felt on the wood blocks that support the fallboard help?

Thanks,
CG

[keys60]

Any buzzing that felt suppresses helps as long as it doesn't affect performance or look stupid.

Sometimes buzzing sounds like its coming from one place but is actually coming from another, like the dang light in the piano lamp and or its brass shade. That's a common one for me too.

Could be the fallboard itself is touching the hinge or the hinge is touching the piano. Good luck. You'll find it eventually.