[CAUT] Pitchlock

[Alan McCoy]

Hi, 

I thought I'd share some preliminary results. I have been experimenting with
these little couplers but not as originally intended. The first application
I've tried is in dealing with front duplex noise in those segments that
won't shut up. 

First a little background. I have been rethinking this recently (thanks to
Fred Sturm). Up until a few months ago I often used narrow (say 1/8")
bushing cloth in these string segments as close to the counterbearing (as
far away from the capo) as possible to eliminate the noise while influencing
the speaking portion as little as possible. This often works. But I have
been routinely removing the felt and re-listening to these pianos. Now I'm
thinking 1) that just because the noise bothers me doesn't mean that it
bothers either the pianist or the audience, and 2) that having the duplex
"contribute" to the overall soundscape, especially in a performance venue,
is probably a good thing, and 3) that voicing the hammer more effectively
often solves, or at least masks, the "problem".

I have used the pitchlock couplers on a few front duplex segments on about 6
pianos in classrooms, practice rooms, and recital hall (#2 piano). I have
not always been able to tune the segments (aiming for a 12th or 19th) but
have always been able to get rid of the noisy, buzzy character to the tone
that was bothersome. I could detect no dampening to the notes - attack or
sustain. Next time I do this I will do a before and after RCT Pianalyzer to
see how the partial ladder is affected.

The other application that I am interested in is to couple mismatched (and
therefore untunable) bass strings. I've put the pitchlock clamps on several
pairs of bass strings of untunable notes and I've been amazed at how the
tone and tunability is improved. These are put on the pair of strings
between the agraffe and the winding.

I see no downside to either of these applications yet. Anyone else doing any
experimenting?

Alan


-- Alan McCoy, RPT
Piano Technician

Eastern Washington University
119 Music Bldg
Cheney, WA 99004

(509) 359-4627
amccoy@mail.ewu.edu