Wound Trichords -- why 2 but not 3?

[Lesher, Trent J.]

Hi Joe,
 
It's still a mystery to me, though.  Why, on the long bridge, are three an abomination and not two?  Are three too loud for the rest of the scale, or too thick for the hammers to hit all three properly, or is there too much tension making the structure unstable or something?  Or is it related to all the weird and inconsistent extra sounds that wound strings make, so that tuning 3 of them together is just about impossible or something?
 
I notice that on old (1900-1930 era) Mason & Hamlin uprights and others, when they have wound strings above the bass bridge, they often have them on their own separate, third, little bridge.  (I assumed it was because once you went to a wound string, you had to make it shorter than the adjacent plain strings or the core wire would be overstressed by the tension.)  I don't have any particular thought about that, it just occurred to me that fact might fit in here somewhere.
 
Inquiring minds want to know.
 
Trent

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Joe And Penny Goss [mailto:imatunr@srvinet.com] 
	Sent: Fri 11/19/2004 10:30 PM 
	To: Pianotech 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: Wound Trichords
	
	

	Hi Trent, Bi's yes Tri's no.
	Joe Goss RPT
	Mother Goose Tools
	imatunr@srvinet.com
	www.mothergoosetools.com
	----- Original Message -----
	From: "Lesher, Trent J." <tlesher@sachnoff.com>
	To: "Alan Forsyth" <alanforsyth@fortune4.fsnet.co.uk>; "Pianotech"
	<pianotech@ptg.org>; <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
	Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 9:19 PM
	Subject: RE: Wound Trichords
	
	
	> Terry, Alan, List:
	>
	> Okay, since nobody's asked yet, I will.  Why are they an abomination?  I
	had actually been thinking one way to improve the tone of the last couple
	notes at the low end of the long bridge on my M&H 50 -- C#3, the lowest
	before the break, is 38-3/4" long -- would be to replace the plain wires
	with wound ones.  Now it seems maybe I am full of misconceptions and this is
	a bad idea -- but why?
	>
	> Thanks for any illumination,
	>
	> Best regards,
	>
	> Trent Lesher
	> -----Original Message-----
	> From: Alan Forsyth [mailto:alanforsyth@fortune4.fsnet.co.uk]
	> Sent: Fri 11/19/2004 7:14 PM
	> To: Pianotech
	> Cc:
	> Subject: Wound Trichords
	>
	>
	> Yes, they are an abomination!!!!
	>
	> AF
	> ----- Original Message -----
	> From: Farrell <mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
	> To: Pianotech <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org>
	> Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 11:24 PM
	> Subject: Re: Steinway Damper sytem upgrade
	>
	>
	> Help stamp out would tricords!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	>
	> Terry Farrell
	



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