v-bar/capo repair: Seiler pictures 2

[Ric Brekne]

Hi Barbara

Nice pics

A few things strike me right off.  First, tho the picture perhaps doesnt 
clearly show this it appears that the capo surface is far more rounded 
and certainly wider then what I would associate with a 0.5 mm wide 
classic V profile.  Ed McMorrow makes a very good argumentation about 
buzzing and string grooves and in my experience his opinions hold true. 
A string groove does not neccessarilly cause buzzing according to this 
thinking.  It depends largely on the kind of grooving evident, the 
profile and width of this,  and the hardness of the capo surface.  A 
wide rounded and very hard will certainly experience grooving sooner or 
later and will contribute to significant string noise no matter what you 
do when it does.  I've been carefully filing to 0.5 mm for 20 years now 
and making sure I do not touch the surface area.  That actually leaves 
some of the old grooving, yet the sound always comes out clean as a 
whistle.  Another thing thats obvious is that the deflection angle 
upwards can not possibly be too slight as some speculated about before 
the pictures were available. The Seiler we have was the same, a wide 
rounded profile with a steep counterbearing angle.

Another bit left undealt with here in relation to front duplex noise is 
the frequency of the length relative to the fundemental of the speaking 
length. Again I recommend reading McMorrow and relevant parts of the 5 
lectures.  Detuning to non-harmonic frequencies makes a very big 
difference.

I think its important to remember that tho Steinway uses a fairly long 
front duplex, it is because when this is functioning optimally the 
contribution to the overall sound picture that results is considered by 
very many to be pleasing. It is certainly what Steinway wants.  Others 
manufactures have tried other solutions. Most notably Bechstein (one of 
my personal favorites btw).  The sound of Bechstein is very different of 
course... and what any given person prefers is a personal matter IMB.  
This is not to say that the Steinway approach, and similiar ones are not 
problem free.  But the front length can be optimalized to do the job it 
was designed to do.

I would suggest loosening the strings of the offending area, moving them 
out of the way and filing the capo as per McMorrows advice and see if 
that solves your problem.  Its quick and easy and preclude any of the 
other solutions presented should you decide to opt for any of them 
later.  I would also suggest making sure the duplex length is detuned as 
well.  Detuning this front duplex (should it be necessarry) might be a 
bit of a task... but you are up to it !  :)

Cheers
RicB