Friction/Buzz at Agraffes

[S. Brady]

Jeannie & list,

There was a time in the early 80s when Steinway's agraffe supplier was not
counterboring the holes adequately on both sides. One side would be
counterbored right and the other side wouldn't be. If the counterbored
side ended up towards the speaking length, it sounded okay. If the
non-counterbored side ended up facing the speaking length, it wouldn't
take too long for the sound to get jangly on that note. Take a close look
at the agraffes and see if there's a difference in the amount of
counterbore from one to the next. I've *improved* this problem by running
the string around the hitch pin, but the only real cure is to restring
and either install new agraffes or ream the old ones with PianoTek's
agraffe reamers, which have a nice radius that will put a good counterbore
on the holes.

Steve

On Mon, 6 Mar 2000, Jeannie Grassi wrote:

> Ray and List,
> Boy, I was just about to compose a post on this very topic, but Ray beat me
> to it.  Maybe all the responses will be helpful to both of us.
> I tuned a 1983 Steinway L a couple of weeks ago that appeared to have been
> well taken care of prior to a four-year lapse in tuning.  I did a 16 cent
> pitch raise and as I raised the pitch in the tenor section, note for note,
> the strings began to jangle and vibrate and sound absolutely horrid.  I
> thought, at first that maybe the problem was with the bridge pins.  But
> later came back to the agraffes.  I lifted, shifted, prodded and prayed over
> each one and could not create any appreciable change.  Are there any other
> tricks I might try short of removing all of these strings and dealing with
> the agraffes that way?
> Could this be due to the kink in the wire from the piano having set below
> pitch for that four year period?  Could it be from someone over-zealously
> lifting the strings and introducing a kink?  Help!
> Jeannie
> 
> Jeannie Grassi, RPT
> mailto:jgrassi@silverlink.net
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Ray
> Bentley
> Sent: Friday, March 03, 2000 9:58 AM
> To: caut@ptg.org
> Subject: Friction/Buzz at Agraffes
> 
> 
> Has anyone else found strings to buzz at the agraffe?  I have a piano that
> seems to.  I can usually stop the buzz by raising and lowering the pitch,
> thereby moving the string back and forth through the agraffe.  These strings
> also pop loose at the agraffe during tuning.  It doesn't seem to matter how
> long it has been since the previous tuning, they still pop during tuning.
> Has anyone tried clp or something else there with success.  Also there are a
> few pianos that don't render well.  That is, the friction at the capo bar is
> such that when you pull a string up, it continues to raise with firm blows,
> and vice versa.  Any cure for this?
> 
> Thanks to all.
> 
> Ray T. Bentley, RPT
> Lewis and Clark Community College
> Godfrey, IL
> 
> 


_________________________________________________

Steve Brady, RPT
Head Piano Technician, University of Washington
Editor, Piano Technicians Journal