Fender Rhodes Damper Felt - Individual

Fender Rhodes Damper Felt - Individual - Vintage Vibe - Vintage Vibe
Vintage Vibe®

Fender Rhodes Damper Felt - Individual

Regular price $0.58 $0.00 Unit price per

A 'must do' task when restoring any Fender Rhodes!


Product Details

Description

Pre '75 vs Post '75

About the Felts

Placement Guide

Install Videos

FAQ

Description

If the damper felts on your piano have never been changed, don't even think it over, do it! 

Trust us on this one; replacing damper felts is one of the "must-do" tasks when restoring a Fender Rhodes piano. By now, your electric piano is likely 40-50 years old and the original damper felts are, without a doubt, worn and deteriorating. 

New felts are semi-rigid and able to absorb the swing of a large tine with ease. As they age, they soften. Add to this absorbing a tine's impact repeatedly over years of playing and you're left with a felt that no longer performs its job effectively. The symptoms can range from notes that ring longer than they should to felts that flop over and fail to dampen at all or even get in the way of adjacent dampers!

Vintage Vibe has carefully thought out the need for damper felts on the Fender Rhodes and Vintage Vibe pianos with a four part damper felt system - Bass, Pre-Mids, Mids, and Treble.

These custom-made damper felts are fine-tuned and engineered to last a decade. Our attention to detail has resulted in the best felts money can buy!

Damper felts sold individually. Glue is included.

Purchase complete damper felt kits here.

We also recommend our damper arm kits to accompany your new felts!

Pre '75 vs Post '75

Pictured is a classic example of a Fender Rhodes action with single dampers, half wood half plastic hammers and wood action. If your piano has this type of action then you will want the Pre 1975 damper felt kit.


Pictured is a classic example of a Rhodes action with damper combs, all plastic hammers and aluminum frame action. If your piano has this type of action then you will want the Post 1975 damper felt kit.

 

 

About the Felts

Bass Felts

Bass felts are 1/2" x 1/2" x 3/8" large sturdy soft wool felt and are able to absorb the swing of a full length of tine yet sturdy enough to never flop over.

Pre Mid Felts

Pre mid felts are used after the bass section of all pre mid 75 era Fender Rhodes pianos where the tines are still long yet a large bass felt us not needed. These felts are the same length and width of a bass felt but only half the height. At this point in the piano scale, a full Bass felt is not needed but a Mid felt is not enough large enough or does not offer appropriate cushion. On later Rhodes post early 75' pianos this section of felt may not be needed because of the fact that two octaves of bass damper arms are standard in this era of piano. The octave bass damper arms are shorter thus needing a taller felt as to not over extend damper arm to reach tines. 

Mid Felts

Mid felts were designed to allow for excellent tine cushion as well as giving plenty of room for tine clearance and any pick up adjustment.

Treble Felts

These felts are 3/8th x 3 /16 x 3/8th and allow the ultimate clearance for any tine and pick up configuration.

Install Videos

Tech Tip | Installing Damper Felts on a Fender Rhodes

Tech Tip | Fender Rhodes & Rhodes Bass Damper Felt Difference

Tech Tip | Adjusting Treble Damper Felts on a Fender Rhodes

Tech Tip | Adjusting Treble Damper Felts on a Fender Rhodes

FAQ

Q: I received your dampers but I have noticed there are 4 different sizes and not all match what I have in my piano. I am not sure what I should do?

A: Our 100% wool felts are designed for maximum stopping power as well as having lower profiles to allow for better damper articulation.

You may either have notes that do not dampen and exhibit after ring or you may have notes that are muted. In either case proper adjustment is necessary.

Damper adjustment is always needed when changing felts or adjusting escapement. For damper any adjustments you will bend the damper gently up or down at or just after the bridle strap to increase or decrease lost motion of the bridle strap. Lost motion is the amount of slack you have in the bridle strap while in the keys resting position. It can also be described as the amount a key has to travel downward before the damper engages and lifts off the tine. For the correct damper height you will want a bridle strap that is just slightly loose not quite taught. You will want the damper to engage almost immediately but not too taught where the damper will bounce with the hammer after a key strike.

When dampers are properly adjusted you should be able to lift the harp and not see the dampers move more than 1/8th inch. With the harp in the up position your dampers should be even across the piano.

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