[pianotech] Whistlin' Wixey

Ron Nossaman rnossaman at cox.net
Wed Aug 11 20:22:17 MDT 2010


William Truitt wrote:

> What should I zero the gauge to?  There seems little in a piano that is 
> flat and level to serve as a meaningful reference.  I want a proper 
> reference point to zero to, so that the values will accurately reflect 
> the angle of the string.  What are others using as their reference?

If you're willing to do a lot of unnecessary math, you can 
zero to anything at all and calculate deviations for 
comparison of all the string segments of interest. Or you can 
zero on one of the string segments and get comparative 
deviations of the other segments in that unison directly.


> I made a gauge similar to Jim I’s.  Foot spacing is too long for rear 
> angle check in high treble with rear duplexes.  I will make another base 
> with shorter feet.  Have others made another base with shorter span 
> between feet to use in the treble?

I've posted a photo at least three times, the last less than a 
month ago. Look in the archives on 7/13/2010.


> Won’t the relationship between the front and rear angles be affected by 
> how carefully the bridge top is planed down to the desired height when 
> setting bearing at the bridge?  That is, how careful one is to not plane 
> down too much off the front side or back side of the bridge.

First, you have to determine how critical the comparison 
between front and rear bearing angles really is, and how that 
affected all those rebuilds you did before you had a Wixey to 
measure them.

Ron N


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