Thank you for these helpful observations folks. I reckon I will have to re-think, along the lines you guys suggest. I am familiar with the sounds of "dead" tubby bass strings, with the loss of volume from the end of a bass bridge butting hard against the plate, and with the huge loss of volume from a detached bass bridge just hanging on the strings. This isn't as bad as any of those, but you have certainly made me reconsider, and I will investigate further, in line with your suggestions. Best regards, David. On 18/11/2012 19:00, Sig wrote: > It may not be the hammers. Pluck the lowest steel wire tenor string > then pluck the highest bass string and compare the tone. If the bass > is softer try twisting the string. Other problems could be the bass > bridge is loose from the soundboard. To get good tone out of the bass > might need new bass strings. > I sort of agree with Sig the mystery tech. I don't see why 80 year old > hammers would be too soft, but it's easy to find 80 year old wrapped > strings that are dead, or loose bass bridges in 80 year old pianos. I > think it's biggest problem is that it's 80 years old. <G> I second the > pluck test first to see what the strings actually have to give. > However, if it's the strings, I wouldn't try to save them by twisting > or any other heroic measures. > Ron N > Hi David, > As others have suggested it may not be the hammers. > Other things to try that may lead you to decide what is needed. > 1. Lower a note (one string of a soft sounding one ) about an octave > and pound with a heavy test blow force 10 to 20 strokes in rapid style > Bring the string back to pitch and listen to see if there is > improvement in the sound. > 2. Need more? Remove same string from hitch pin> as you remove the > string ( do it with vice grips so that you can see if the string has > been twisted ) twist string unichord no more than one full twist > bichord no more than two full turns. > More than this will destroy the string by adding unpredictable false > harmonics. > If the above does not help examine the bridge assembly for soundness > before deciding to install new strings. > Joe Goss BSMusEd MMusEd RPT -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20121120/4298a19e/attachment.htm>
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