duplex record

[Ron Nossaman]

I looked at, and passed on, a Francis Bacon grand yesterday that was
anywhere from a half semitone to an octave flat, often within a unison.
This piano did have one very impressive feature though. The rear duplex in
octave six was the shortest I've ever seen, the shortest of these being a
whopping 7 millimeters long. In all fairness, the duplex bearing bar (about
5mm wide) was out of place and right at, or extending slightly over the
edge of the plate. There was plenty of evidence in the form of gold paint
and brush tracks, that someone had worked on it at one time, but I couldn't
tell if the bar was in it's original position or had been repositioned for
some reason. Moved back as close to the hitch pins as it would go, there
would have been more like 15mm minimum length. If I could have reached, I
could probably have slipped one business card between the plate and the
bridge, but I doubt that two would have gone. I was impressed.

It was interesting one time, but I wouldn't want to do it every day.

Ron N