[Ron Nossaman]

>OK here it is:
>
>It's my 1913 Ricca & Son upright.
>
>The break is at B27/C28 with the lowest trichord plain
>note being C28.

Stephen,
Please understand that while we are gratified that you are showing some
interest in such things as scaling, we are also frustrated that you don't
seem interested in learning about such things as scaling. One string
speaking length, with or without such insignificant details as core and
overall wrap diameter, hasn't in the past, doesn't now, and by
extrapolation most likely won't ever tell anyone anything at all about the
overall scale design. If it were as easy as measuring the speaking length
of the low A and generating the rest of the scale from that, wouldn't they
all be the same for a given A-0 length? When, not if, you find that they
aren't all the same, wouldn't you have to realistically conclude that there
might possibly be other criteria at work that could account for the
differences? Don't you suppose it might then be a reasonable conclusion
that it would behoove a student of scale design to make an attempt to
actually try to learn something about it from existing and (these days)
readily available formulae, to establish some less superficial
relationships than the one(s) between the speaking length of A-0, and the
bass/tenor break(s)? We have been hearing about your 1913 Rica and Son
upright for some time now, and still don't know anything technically useful
about it other than you like the sound of it better than you do your mom's
piano. While that's quite adequate for the first post or two, it does tend
to fall a tad short for subsequent posts, and is somewhat less than
adequate for making predictions as to where bass/tenor scale breaks can or
do fall in other pianos. Interestingly enough, there are a number of
fascinating things to learn about scale (and piano) design that aren't
represented in any one or two pianos you might happen to have at hand as
samples. This would, of course, require broadening the sample base by
taking full scale measurements from not only the two pianos which represent
the cross sectional sampling you currently have access to, but as many
other pianos as you can lay hands on long enough to take the necessary
measurements. The necessary measurements (for now) being the speaking
lengths, core diameters, and overall wrap diameters of at least one string
in every single unison from the lowest to the highest note in the piano.
This is the part about wanting to learn badly enough to actually put forth
some effort in the process. You can worry about the back scale and front
duplex after you gain some basic understanding of the speaking length scale. 

These guessing games as to where the bass/tenor scale break will be with an
A-0 speaking length of XXX are utterly meaningless in any sort of context I
can come up with, and serve no educational purpose at all since there is no
direct cause and effect relationship evident here - at least as it applies
to scaling. This is not the direction in which to look for answers.
Actually, personally, and at some expenditure of time, measure a scale,
apply the appropriate formulae and start building your cause and effect
relationships from a more real set of criteria than the speaking length of
A-0, and it might actually begin to make sense to you so you can make sense
to us.

This isn't something you can pretend at. You're going to have to commit
some time, effort, and brain cells to it if you are to ever stand the ghost
of a chance of understanding any of it.


Ron N