Pad slap

[DickT]

I was playing today and started listening to the difference between the pad noise on my Edeophone 56 key ET and my Aeola TT. The edeo has a much sharper and louder pad slap. Both 'tinas have been relatively recently re-padded so I was wondering what might cause the difference in sound. Any ideas anyone?

Dick.

[Geoff Wooff]

If all  other things are  equal   then  the  wood of the   two pad boards  is a   probable  cause  for the    pad slap  volume  differences .   Edeophone  pad boards are  usually   Mahogany  and the Aeola's would be  Maple or Sycamore  as far as I recall.

 

Other variables could include  return spring pressure differences,  various  noises  from  the actions , pads of  different construction,  hardness of  reedpan gaskets, type of end  grills, overall  size of instrument  etc etc.

 

I was trying to  decide  if  I should change the pads  on   an accordion  because of the   amount  of  slap  noise  that  occurs  when   a  depressed button is  quickly released    but I realised that  some , if not all ,  the sound  was coming from  the key levers  coming just into contact with the underside of the keyboard.  So it is worth looking  closely at the whole system.

 

I do think  pads  are changed  ,  sometimes unnecessarily, as a 'service item' these days.  Both of my  vintage  Wheatstones  have their original pads ( as far as I can tell)  and  they function  perfectly well... and one is 120  years old!

Edited January 10, 2019 by Geoff Wooff