[CAUT] Mason A Pics

[Ron Nossaman]

> Overall pitch is quite close to A440 with notes randomly above and below 
> pitch. There is no “pattern” to the notes that are out; some strings as 
> far as 15 cents below and 5 cents high, but mostly below, with random 
> right/left/center – no pattern. Only 12 stings or so are “way” out; i.e. 
> the whole compass didn’t jump. But imagine going to tune a piano and 
> finding a dozen strings randomly wild. This is exactly what has driven 
> us nuts!!

The angles are fairly steep, but I don't know that that's the 
problem. No diagnosis yet, but some observations while my key 
de-bushing kettle heats up.

  The bends at the agraffe and counter bearing bars don't look 
very tight. It doesn't look to me that they have been settled 
after stringing. Were they? How about at the bridge pins? Got 
a picture there? How about at the hitches?

That's lots of felt, with the wire buried deep down. Doesn't 
look like understring cloth, as it's pretty fuzzy looking. If 
that's what's doing it, it's obvious during the tuning when 
you don't get the instant pitch response as you feel the pin 
spring. Is the tactile/aural response any different in this 
piano than anything else you tune that doesn't have this 
problem? During tuning, what does one really good WHACK 
(technical term having nothing to do with music) do to the 
pitch? Strings have to render through the bridge too, and you 
can't feel that with a tuning hammer.

As an "incidentally", not leaning the tuning pins back so far 
will make it possible (easy) to keep the coil snugged up as 
you pull it to pitch. Not that it's a problem, just an 
"incidentally".

Water's hot. Back to work.
Ron N