On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 4:51 PM, David Ilvedson <ilvey at sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Give up on the Universal strings. Take measurements, call Mapes or > favorite string maker...get the string within a week and do it right. You > can still tune at the first appointment and come back to install the string. > I give them a price including part, shipping and the installation > appointment. If you have a ringing damper...I've temporarily installed a > flat damper or they can tough it out... > > David Ilvedson, RPT > Pacifica, CA 94044 > > ----- Original message ---------------------------------------- > From: "Noah Frere" <noahfrere at gmail.com> > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Received: 7/15/2009 2:25:45 PM > Subject: Re: [pianotech] bass or plainsteel strings? > > > >Thanks for your reply. I have also been increasingly dissatisfied with > >Universal Strings. However, even ordering specific strings often pose > >troubled matches I've noticed lately. If I receive one more poorly matched > >string, I'm going to order both bichords... > >Anyway, I should also have known that since 2 complete notes were out, > there > >would be no chance of replacing with Universals, since I need 2 pairs. > These > >were indeed copperwound, and I'm afraid since they're at the break that > the > >tension may be a bit high. I will ask the stringmaker if he can do > something > >about that. I did not measure the adjacent strings. > > >On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 1:23 PM, Joe DeFazio <defaziomusic at verizon.net > >wrote: > > >> Hi Noah, > >> As David Porritt mentioned, the hitch pins (and the bridge pins) will > tell > >> you if you have a bichord or a trichord. However, some cheaper American > >> pianos of that era (and Currier certainly counts as cheap!) use both > wound > >> bichords and steel bichords in the low tenor. So, if you see copper > >> bichords to the left and steel bichords to the right, you will have to > look > >> carefully at the surfaces of the damper felt and hammer strike point, > where > >> the difference will most likely be discernible. > >> > >> If copper is the "correct answer," I would advise against using > universal > >> strings, which one of my friends calls "universally wrong." They never > >> match in timbre, and their inharmonicity is usually so wildly different > that > >> they don't tune well with their neighbors. Why "fix" a piano so that it > >> sounds even worse than it did before it broke? (Yes, for the wise guys > out > >> there, it is indeed possible for even a Currier to sound worse than it > did > >> when new!) > >> > >> If you make accurate and precise measurements of the speaking length > (hitch > >> to speaking bridge pin length, hitch to upper termination, hitch to > tuning > >> pin) of the missing strings and their lower neighbors, as well as core > and > >> wrap diameters for the lower neighbors, plus twist length near the hitch > pin > >> loop, a good string maker ought to be able to scale and manufacture new > >> strings which will sound much better than universals. If four strings > in a > >> row broke, though, that may be a clue that the original scaling was > >> improper. Ask the string maker to double-check the breaking percentage > of > >> the newly designed strings before manufacturing them, and to adjust a > little > >> for safety if necessary. You probably don't want to have the new > strings > >> break just like the old.... > >> > >> Joe DeFazio > >> Pittsburgh > >> > > I agree with the others about the universal strings. I use Mapes, I have them on the speed dial of my cell phone so I can call the specs of the string in from the piano. Also I have noticed that Mapes usually offers a deal on the pair when it's one string in a unison, since the new string will have a better tone than the old, they recommend replacing both and give you a deal on the price of both. Mike -- I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Steven Wright Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090715/b2682146/attachment.htm>
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