fun at the piano store!

[Ron Nossaman]

>So many people have made this, or similar, comments in this thread that I 
>have found it needful to comment/ask a question(s) in spite of having 
>promised myself in the past that I would not do so......

Me too. I know everyone's sick of hearing me say it, but...


>Does anyone have any "objective" evidence that there is significant (meaning 
>tuning altering) pinblock movement after intial tensioning of the 
>strings....since the talk is of "wedging" between plate flange and pinblock 
>it is movement in this direction that I am adressing....any 'objective' 
>evidence anyone??
>Jim Bryant (FL)

In spite of massively underwhelming evidence to support the effectiveness
of the procedures, it is universally "known" that nearly any tuning problem
you come across can be cured by application of some combination of wedging
the plate flange/pinblock, tightening the plate screws, and seating strings
on the bridges. It will probably never matter that these things are mostly
ineffective, because everyone will remember an instance where one or all of
these procedures seemed to help the situation. They won't remember all the
times when they didn't work, or perhaps they didn't do it aggressively
enough, or in the wrong order. It couldn't be that the information's not
gospel because ( output to stone ) that's what their old revered MENTOR
taught them to do, so it must be right ( end output, display for eternity).
You may even get a number of responses agreeing with you, and might even
make a tentative convert or two, but the next time the question of tuning
instability rolls around on the wheel again, you'll get the same old
responses. 

My question is, since so many folks are going on what they were taught
here, instead of comparing it for validity, over the long run, against
their own experience, where did this information originate. We didn't all
have the same teacher. Who had the original "original" thought, and why did
everyone automatically believe him? Talk about unquestioned credibility!
Who the heck was that guy?


Ron N