false beats

[Fred Sturm]

Roger,
	Have you actually noticed distortion caused by a "normal" level of
dirt/rust on the strings? No question that when it occurs around a
termination (bridge pin, agraffe, capo), it can cause distortion. But in
the speaking length, I have never been able to hear a difference between
a rusty string and one that's been cleaned. But maybe I just live in a
climate where the strings don't get corroded enough to notice.
	With respect to termination dirt, I had an experience once which really
brought home the importance of clean termination to me. A client called,
saying a student had spilled some soda on some strings, and they were
"dead." I expected the hammers to be the problem, but when I went, I
found no visual evidence whatsover of the spill. Certainly nothing had
spilled on hammer or damper felt. But three or four notes were, indeed,
very obviously dead as a doornail.
	After fussing around quite a bit, I found that the problem was just a
bit of sticky residue between strings and capo. And the only way I could
solve the problem was by lowering tension enough to fit a damp rag
between strings and capo and clean thoroughly (I tried using the damp
rag on the strings and capo from below, jogging strings back and forth,
etc. No soap. No noticeable improvement). Utterly amazing that a bit of
sticky Coke could have such a pronounced effect.
	Also wanted to ask if you have a good way to apply CA to bridge pins,
without leaving visual residue. Or a good technique for cleaning up
residue.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
 
jolly roger wrote:
> 
> Hi Fred.
>              A good tip,  I might add string distortion can be caused
> by rust and dirt, so make sure the strings are clean and bright.
> 
> regards Roger
>