At 11:30 PM 4/11/97 -0600, you wrote: > > PIANOTECH Digest 1007 >Here's what I did: With the piano up to pitch, I simply pulled up on the speaking >lenght side of a couple of strings until they lifted off the bridge, then let go and >watched what happened. The strings that had no side bearing went right back down to the >bridge. The strings that had decent side bearing stayed up! I did several in the sixth >octave of the piano (this is where the misplaced pins are) and the strings rode up >above the bridge anywhere from 10 to 15 thousandths according to my feeler gauge. > >This little test, while not very controlled, would seem to point to side bearing, and >its attendant friction as one of the major contributing factors in keeping those >suckers up in the air. > >Comments anyone? > >John McKone, RPT >St. Louis Park, Minnesota Very Good John, Good thinking if you ask me. I remember my 1st bridge cap. It sounds just like your first one. I was able to correct most of the side bearing problems with a nail punch. It works fine on newer elastic wood. If your worried about the little tiny gap that results from an elongated hole then you can apply some epoxy or "Woodtite". Too often we tend to take explanations of phenomena from "experts" rather than seeing for ourselves. I also have problems with the accepted explanations about false beats and strings riding up. I do tap strings down but it is a last attempt on my part to clear up the sound. Sometimes it has an effect and other times none. I used to be a firm believer in tapping. I did it every time I tuned. I now think that was a big mistake. My own belief is that the risk of damage to the bridge surface is not a good trade off. I also, used to believe that if the strings rode up the pins it would create a false beat. Then one day, I tried to produce a false beat in a string that previously didn't have one by getting the string to ride up slightly. As I remember it didn't' work. Now that was one time, one string. A good experiment is to do it to twenty five or thirty strings, record the result somehow, and do the statistics to arrive at a conclusion. **************************************************************************** Michael J. Wathen Phone: 513-556-9565 Piano Technician Fax: 513-556-3399 College-Consevatory of Music Email: Michael.Wathen@UC.Edu University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0096 http://www.uc.edu/~wathenmj
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