Rendering, et al

[Ron Nossaman]

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>  That being the case we must do "something differently" as in your case of 
>'agraffe squeaky gremlins' There are at least four different , yet related, 
>causes for a "pip squeak' agraffe:
>1. Shape of the hole.
>2. Composition of the brass.
>3. Condition of the string.
>4. Up, or down, pressure on the agraffe. 
>  Therefore changing any one of these factors will change the situation 
>obtaining and only have three consequences possible:
>A. Get rid of the 'pip squeaks'
>B. Make the 'pip squeaks' worse or, change the sound.
>C. Make no change at all.
>  Therefore you have only two possible decisions
>1.A. Change something.
>2.B. Change nothing.

>  Possibly after you make your decision, and if it was 2.B., you will still 
>wonder why?...however if it was 1.A. and the 'pip squeak' goes away you will 
>also wonder why?

* If it were the composition of the brass, I would expect different batches
of agraffes to have the problem - or not - on a wholesale basis, not on a
randomly individual basis. Nor should reshaping the hole make any difference
in that instance. Logically, we're already way past this consideration. If
it's the shape of the hole, one ought to be able to *produce* the effect, or
make it worse, by reshaping said hole. Has anyone seen this happen? I can
see where habitually shaping the holes before installation would insure a
uniformly predictable string termination, but that isn't the issue. Buffing
the holes out doesn't predictably shape the termination point, yet you
report that it takes care of the pop/ping. That being the case, I'm leaning
toward the probability of a surface contaminant (oxidation, or whatever) in
the hole, which is cleaned off by buffing or reshaping. If it were a string
contaminant or surface defect, diddling the agraffe hole shouldn't make any
difference. I don't see any other logical reason for a string sticking to an
agraffe in a situation like this. I was looking for physical cause and
effect relationships, even if they prove to be wrong later. After all, being
proven wrong means progress is being made. I know, I've progressed rather
dramatically from time to time.




>So since the piano is strung and the 'pip squeaks' are in bass strings and 
>admittedly are not a problem except when tuning and then only a mild 
>annoyance......leave em alone !

* That's precisely what I've done. I was just looking for education after
the fact.


 Ron