the mass of the brass is a gass

[Ron Nossaman]

I got to be a junior grade hero the other day. The piano is a poor old 
funky Acrosonic, and the daughter was being driven crazy by the last note 
on the low tenor. It's a wrapped string, but the first half dozen notes of 
the low tenor are on a cantilever. That last unison BONGED terribly. I told 
her there likely wasn't much I could do with it, but I'd give it a look and 
see.

After the tuning, I experimentally clamped my little Vise-Grip on one of 
the bridge pins of that last unison and the bong disappeared. The 
bass/tenor transition was even relatively tolerable. I called in the 
daughter and had her play across the break, then removed the Vise-Grip and 
had her try again. She was really impressed, so we called Mom at work and 
got executive authorization for a fix of sorts.

For the last couple of years, I've carried about a 70g brass weight with a 
screw soldered into it. I use it for the occasional diagnostic test in 
killer octaves and low tenors. I installed it on the bridge top, since the 
cantilever posed some problems to back side installation, floating it clear 
of the bridge pins so it wouldn't buzz. It looks pretty goofy, but it's 
behind the knee board where it won't typically be seen, and the difference 
it made in sound was dramatic. It's still a funky old Acrosonic, but now 
it's more uniformly funky and a lot easier to listen to.

Now I have to make another weight.
Ron N