Rude Question was False Beats ...

[Farrell]

I've tuned a few Yamahas that came pretty close. My Boston was free of false beats except for maybe just a couple very faint ones when new - it has a few now - loose bridge pins.

I am really looking forward to stringing my M&H upright that I put epoxy-laminated quarter-sawn hard-maple bridge caps on and set the pins in epoxy. I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that I'll come as close to false-beat free as I have ever heard. Time will tell. And I will certainly tell all you folks if indeed I do succeed!

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan" <tune4u@earthlink.net>
To: "'Pianotech'" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 1:14 PM
Subject: Rude Question was False Beats ...


Has there ever been a single piano, new or old, expensive or cheap, that
didn’t ANY false-beating strings? I have never tuned a new, expensive
grand, nor have I ever tuned a concert piano or any 9-footer, and I’ve
never seen a new Steinway. All of these are kind of rare (non-existent)
out here in the boonies so maybe my question is rude and/or stupid. But
I have seen a lot of pianos from ancient beaters to crappy spinets to
brand new Baldwin uprights and almost new pianos of many makes.
 
I’ve never heard a wholly clean-sounding piano.
 
Have I just been too sheltered, or—rude question—are false beats just
part of the territory, the imperfect science of piano building and the
many compromises we put up with.
 
I am in my bunker, flak jacket and helmet in place. Fire away!
 
Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Dave Smith
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 10:33 AM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Re: False Beats in high treble after stringing
 
Thanks for the thoughts given so far.  I will attempt to achieve a
"quiet mind" and then go after the false beats again in a more
methodical manner.  
 
Dave Smith
SW FL
PTG Associate
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: HYPERLINK "mailto:pmc303@ricochet.com"Paul McCloud 
To: HYPERLINK "mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"'Pianotech' 
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 10:20 AM
Subject: RE: False Beats in high treble after stringing
 
You might check to see how much downbearing there is over the bridge.  A
rocker gauge may not show it, but a bubble gauge or other more
sophisticated tool will.  It’s likely that there isn’t much downbearing
in that area.  I rebuilt a Ste. M some time ago, and was similarly
disappointed with the result, with all the false beats and such.  I used
CA instead of your epoxy, but did all the same things to get rid of the
false beats, to no avail.  When I used my Lowell gauge to check that
area, there wasn’t much downbearing at all.  I had to let it go at that.
FWIW.
            Paul McCloud
            San Diego
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Keith McGavern
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 6:07 AM
To: Pianotech
Subject: Re: False Beats in high treble after stringing
 
At 9:09 PM -0400 6/9/03, Dave Smith wrote:
... Can anyone offer me advice on what to do next to reduce the false
beats, short of unstringing and recapping bridge, etc?  I would
appreciate your help!
 
Dave,
 
I am no expert in this area, but will offer some thoughts has to how I
would attempt to troubleshoot this matter in my mind.
 
To hopefully discover the cause:
1) pick the worst offender
2) mute the non-speaking sections of that offender, listen.
3) if false beat still there, determine that there is side and down
bearing
4) if there is, determine that the string equally leaves the both the
bridge pin and the bridge
5) if it does, determine that there is absolutely no movement in the
bridge pin
6) if all these prove to be okay and the false beat has not dissipated,
the way the string contacts the pressure bar is certainly a possibility
for inducing a false beat.
7) And if after verifying all these conditions are as they should be,
replacing the string is another option.
 
You might not be able to eliminate all of the false beats, but it is
very possible they can be blended so that no one false beat stands out
above the others. When tuning pianos in the field, blending is utilized
by me quite often to mask inherent discrepancies that will never be
properly addressed.
 
These are my thoughts on the matter, Dave, on chasing down the worst
offending false beat situation.
 
Rest easy in this matter. Frustration in not the master, you are.
 
Keith McGavern

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