Bass Strings

[Mark Dierauf]

>To my dismay I discovered that the string number 47 and 48 had 1"
>of core exposed between the end of the winding and the agraffe
>when these strings were up to pitch.  The amount of core exposed
>between the end of the wind and the bridge pin was 11/16".  From
>my understanding of Bass strings this is unacceptable especially
>when I examine the other Ms we have here which all seem to have
>right around a 1/2".

Without knowing the dimensions for the other strings in this scale, I couldn't
swear to it, but often the unwrapped end lengths for tenor strings (wound
strings on the bottom of the treble bridge) are longer than those in the
overstrung section. When this was done intentionally, it was for the purpose of
raising the inharmonicity of these strings to bring them into line with the
adjacent strings. Al Sanderson says on a class handout of a few years ago that
the unwrapped ends shouldn't excede .75", but goes on to say that one should
"use more than .75 to get [the inharmonicity constant] B up to the required
values if necessary." In fact, when I see longer end lengths in the tenor of a
new piano, it tells me that the manufacturer may have actually tried to design
an optimised scale for the piano, as opposed to using a design that merely
"worked" and was otherwise easier to fabricate.
  The only real way to evaluate string dimensions for a particular scale,
though, is with string design software like my RESCALE for Dos, or Tremaine
Parsons' program, or else using a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet can take a while
to set up, and the data-entry probably won't be as quick and easy as the
dedicated software, though.

			Mark Dierauf