Temperament Strips

[Michael Magness]

On 8/21/07, Joe And Penny Goss <imatunr at srvinet.com> wrote:
>
>  Hi Matthew,
> There is another irritant for me, the strip in your case is too thin.
> My pet peeve is when the strip is too thick and moves the  strings
> out of place closer to the center string. resulting in the hammer hitting
> on a different spot and causing the extra work of string spacing.
> My solution was to ditch the strip mutes and ( using a SAT, Verituner )
> use a split rubber mute, the one with the flex steel handle.
> This was the only mute that I used for years until a few years ago
> when I started using a felt mute ( the ones that are tapered and 1" wide)
> On grands only. I still need to use the split mute on the B 7 and C 8
> as the hammers are blocked by the 1" wide mute.
> One must trim the split mute that you get from supply houses
> as the tips are too thick to thick and wide at the tip for me.
> Rubber wedge on all wrapped strings and the split
> on the rest of the piano for this kid <G>
> Now I do not carry a bundle of felt any more just small pieces for repair.
>
>
> Joe Goss RPT
> Mother Goose Tools
> imatunr at srvinet.com
> www.mothergoosetools.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Matthew Todd <toddpianoworks at yahoo.com>
> *To:* pianotech at ptg.org
> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 21, 2007 10:03 PM
> *Subject:* Temperament Strips
>
>
> These two questions have been on my mind, and I would like to know your
> opinions.
>
> In regards to strip muting the treble section where the strings are
> shorter.  So the hammers strike the strings, is it okay to move the strip
> carefully down behind the dampers?  I am always concerned about ruining the
> felt.  If I make the loops in my strip as small as possible, would this
> practice be okay?  Then if I made the loops too small, the temperament strip
> would actually mute all three of the strings instead.  Any advice here would
> be greatly appreciated.
>
> The second question is this:
>
> How do you all deal with strings "bleeding" through the mutes?  It has
> become an annoyance of mine lately.  Some a lot more subtle than others, but
> still the same regardless.  I even get some "bleeding" between strings that
> are not that far off at all.
>
> Thanks in advance!
> Matthew
>
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>
> Hi Mathew,
I used to strip mute the whole piano but found it to be a nuisance. I use  a
tempermant strip to strip the entire center section to the break. I prefer
the thin firm ones, I find they mute better without displacing unisons from
their position. I then use several rubber mutes w/wire handles to mute most
of the dampered section just above the break. I have been tuning for 38
years and have saved wire handles and used them in the little 1/4 X 2&9/16
mutes to better fit them between hammers and bearing bar. I use a piece of
backrail cloth, split into an inch wide strip to mute the bass. After I get
past the dampers I work my way up the treble using 3 mutes at a time tuning
2 notes, center string of each then outside string, upper string first, then
lower, of each moving my mutes up to the next set of 2 notes as I go. I tune
the two "inside" strings last moving that last mute that was in the center
of the 2 notes to the outside of the lowest note to be tuned next. I wear
the earplugs that Pianotek sells the 20db ones, I find they help cut the
ambient noise found in most homes, furnaces/AC, TV's and radios/stereos,
kids playing outside or in, dad mowing the lawn, mom doing the wash, the
chiming clocks, the refrigerator running and the myriad other things that
can be an irritant when you're tuning. Actually my concentration is pretty
good, I can usually ignore those things I mentioned, I just decided I wanted
to still be able to enjoy hearing things without artificial assistance when
I get older. If I keep tuning without protection I wouldn't be able to. You
may have guessed by now that I'm a dinosaur, I still aural tune, I have no
electronic means, just an A fork. I mean to change that soon but for now I
still tune with my ear and the earplugs do help you hear what you need to
hear better, quieting down the "garbage" you find in many verticals. If you
wish to continue the practice of stripping the entire piano, I see no harm
in sliding your strip down behind the dampers, it's what I did. Just lift
them first as far back as you can without bending them and make your loops
just large enough that they don't touch that center string but instead hold
the damper up. You will of course have more sympathetic "ring" from those
undamped strings that you will have to deal with. You canget some
satisfactory earplugs from the drugstore until you can get the good ones
from Pianotek.

Mike


-- 
Michael Magness
Magness Piano Service
608-786-4404
www.IFixPianos.com
email mike at ifixpianos.com
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