"Grand Piano Dampers" with Rick Baldassin - Seattle P.T.G. Convention

The second class I attended today was all about dampers. The three man team consisting of Rick Baldassin, Carl Teel, and Micheal Spreeman lead a complete hands on experience. Action models complete with removable key frames, actions stacks, damper systems, and the necessary tools were provided by Renner. My complements to Renner for taking such a direct approach to educating technicians about working with their parts.

Carl lead most of the demonstrations utilizing a mutli-camera setup so that you could clearly see the technique being performed. After each step was explained and demonstrated, we were asked to replicate the procedure on our models while the teaching team moved through the stations helping and checking everyone's work. This hands-on approach with direct feedback from the instructors is what made this class such a valuable and satisfying experience.

For future reference we were given an instruction handout originating from Schimmel's own factory procedure. As parting gifts we were given an adjustment block made by Carl Teel, and a Renner "stress reliever" as it was called. It's a novelty sand timer with the Renner logos inside.

After just 3 hours of detailed instruction combined with hands-on doing, I really feel like a cloud has been lifted off of my understanding of grand piano dampers.