Voicing of high bass on Steinway L

[Avery]

Don't forget the bichord damper felts! :-)

Avery Todd

At 03:13 PM 3/9/2006, you wrote:
>David,
>
>Thanks, I will add it to my list of terms.
>
>William
>
>
>
>
>PIANO BOUTIQUE
>William Benjamin
>Piano Tuner Extraordinaire
><http://www.pianoboutique.biz>www.pianoboutique.biz
>The tuner alone,
>preserves the tone.
>
>
>----------
>From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] 
>On Behalf Of David Ilvedson
>Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 3:48 PM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: RE: Voicing of high bass on Steinway L
>
>2 string unison...
>
>David Ilvedson, RPT
>Pacifica, California
>
>
>
>----------
>Original message
>From: "William Benjamin"
>To: "Pianotech List"
>Received: 3/9/2006 12:18:56 PM
>Subject: RE: Voicing of high bass on Steinway L
>Dale,
>
>Maybe it was a typo, but what is a bichords.   You have me stumped here.
>
>William
>
>
>
>
>PIANO BOUTIQUE
>William Benjamin
>Piano Tuner Extraordinaire
><http://www.pianoboutique.biz/>www.pianoboutique.biz
>The tuner alone,
>preserves the tone.
>
>
>----------
>From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] 
>On Behalf Of Erwinspiano at aol.com
>Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 10:42 PM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: Re: Voicing of high bass on Steinway L
>
>   Hey John
>    The upper bass register of the Steinway L was once scaled at 70% 
> of its breaking strength which IMO helped the power a tonal 
> crossover at the break.  Don't know what the current scaling is 
> except I don't care for the a strings they use. The other problem 
> IMO is that the tensions on notes 27-28-29 are too low for a good 
> transition.  Replacing them with 3 or 4 unisons of bichords 
> improves this tremendously.
>    Also If the bass strings have been replaced, most likely the 
> string maker did not duplicate this fairly high tension in notes 22 
> -26 & I find the lower tensions in this area really make for a 
> substandard sounding high bass.  Arledge is doing in good job in 
> the tension dept. & will accomadate whatever you wish.
>    Other makers may or may not do this upon you request. The L 
> monochords are also a horrible trashy sound as they are short & 
> single wrapped and lack fundamental.  A double wrapped string will 
> open up the bottom end of the piano considerably.  Talk about being 
> stuck in the past, I mean mud. Oops . JMO coming thru again.
>   By the way what kind of hammers are we talking about.  This is 
> loads to do with it.
>   Dale
>Hello,,
>
>I know the Steinway L's high bass section is notorious for being
>problematic, but I am looking for advice from someone who has had
>success in getting an excellent transition from the B to the Bb -
>i.e. retaining the "buzz" from the C28 and B27 through to the Bb26
>and A25 while maintaining a decent tone and moderate attack.
>
>I almost gave up hope of getting the sound, but just today I heard an
>old Steinway L that had the *exact* the tone I was looking for: the
>highest notes matched the low tenor extremely well, I was very
>surprised just how well. A full tone with some (good) buzz. I'm
>fairly certain they were original strings.
>
>So, I'm assuming there must be someone out there who knows what I'm
>talking about and has some advice for voicing the hammer to get this
>tone (as best as is possible, at least). For those who are familiar
>with that not-so-pleasant sound that is so often in that Bb26 on L's
>and sometimes the A25, I figured they may know a general approach to
>relieving this sound.
>
>Thanks!
>
>- John
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20060309/f68e2e07/attachment.html