[CAUT] bass strings

[Mitch Staples]

I agree with Ed.  It's always best to diagnose the problem before attempting a fix.  In this case though I don't see how you can get around replacing the strings.  Both you and your customer saw crushed strings and crushed strings could be the cause of the problem.  The only way to eliminate crushed strings as the cause of the problem is to switch them out with new stings.  And new strings will almost certainly present a slightly new voicing so needling the hammers too much before you change strings could get you into trouble.

I guess I'm assuming that you have already checked for termination problems, sympathetic vibrations, and regulation problems.

Mitch Staples


  -----Original Message-----
  From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org]On Behalf Of Ed Sutton
  Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 3:19 PM
  To: College and University Technicians
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] bass strings


  Wim-

  My preference is to diagnose until I get a real answer. A customer complained of "hissing" in her new M & H A.  As I tried muted the back scale she said "It's getting better."  When I muted the backscale to the top she said "Now it sounds clean."  I didn't hear it as "hissing," but my ears are 30 years older than hers.

  Uneven hammer string contact or hard spots in the hammers could make odd sounds in the bi-chords.  You can mute off one of the bi-chords and play one at a time and ask if the sound is in the single string, or if it only happens when you play both together. If it always happens on the left string, there may be a hammer allignment problem causing the hammer to strike the string with its edge.

  You could measure the strings and perhaps find or disprove "crushing."

  If you find individual odd sounding strings, you can try loosening them and turning the string. Perhaps some were turned and not others.

  Replacing strings "to make the customer shut up" is...well, not very good service. But there are many dealers who think that's a solution.

  Ed Sutton
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Willem Blees 
    To: caut at ptg.org 
    Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 2:52 PM
    Subject: Re: [CAUT] bass strings


    The owner of the store is willing to put on new strings. But even if I replace just the few that are bothering him, what happens if he still doesn't like it? I guess, to answer my own question, it's voicing time. 


    Wim

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Jim Busby <jim_busby at byu.edu>
    To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
    Sent: Fri, 28 Dec 2007 9:18 am
    Subject: Re: [CAUT] bass strings


    Wim,

    I’d ask Bruce Clark (M&H). I’ve watched them at M&H put on a bass string, or set, then immediately listen to/critique it. If they don’t like what they hear they make more strings “on the spot” until they do like it. I was quite impressed with their “finickiness”. Bruce is a stickler for a good bass, even though he still disagrees with Del’s and Ron’s ideas of “backscale”, cantilevers and such. (go figure)

    Regard,
    Jim Busby BYU


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    From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Willem Blees
    Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2007 3:43 PM
    To: caut at ptg.org
    Subject: [CAUT] bass strings

    A new customer bought a new M&H AA in August. When I tuned it yesterday, he complained about some tone problems in the last 7 bass notes, (G2 - B2). I was able to voice some of the problems away, but a couple of notes still bothered him. I asked that he play the piano for a while to see if the notes in question would get better with playing. The apartment in which he lives is small, and the piano sits next to an open window, which is very common here. 

    I don't hear what he is complaining about. So perhaps it is one of perception, more than actual sound. He noticed that the winding on some of the strings are a little different than on other strings. The best way I can describe it is that the windings look like they were "crushed" ever so slightly. You can see it only when you look at the strings at an angle, with the light from the window shining on the strings. 

    Would that cause the strings to have a different tone? 
    Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
    Piano Tuner/Technician
    Honolulu, HI
    Author of 
    The Business of Piano Tuning
    available from Potter Press
    www.pianotuning.com

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