strings out of tune, concluding thought

[Fred Sturm]

--On Tuesday, April 13, 2004 12:32 PM -0400 Wimblees@aol.com wrote:

> The best I can conclude is that even with as much pounding as I do, and
> most of you have different versions of that, there are still going to be
> some equalization problems. Am I correct to assume that those problems
> are going to more prevalent in older instruments where the strings are a
> little more corroded, with notches, and rougher bridges, etc.? Or do
> newer instrument have the same problem?
> If it is the former, then perhaps this answers a question I had several
> years ago when I asked, why restring the treble section of a piano? I
> think it was Fred who said that restringing gets rid of the buzzes and
> wild strings. But I think it is safe to assume now that restringing is
> going to do more than that. New strings will move over the bridge easier,
> and around all the pressure points. But along with the restringing, the
> bridges also will need attention. Maybe most of you already knew this,
> but I never paid much attention to the bridge, other than cleaning it.
> (Presuming, of course the bridges are intact.) It appears, based on Jim's
> assessment, that the bridge needs to be polished, and perhaps the pins
> replaced, to give the strings as much help rendering over the bridge as
> possible.

		Yes, restringing definitely improves "tunability"/stability, as was 
pointed out in the recent thread initiated by Jeff Stickney, and this is 
due largely to decrease of friction between front termination and tuning 
pin (shiny, smooth strings, re-surfaced capo and aliquot, replaced felt).
	I tend to be skeptical that bridge work (lubing, polishing, etc) will have 
any noticeable effect. Taking care to obtain fine termination - by refining 
notching, replacing grooved pins and the like - will create better tonal 
characteristics (less falseness and extraneous noise, clearer and more 
stable pitch envelope), which will make it easier to tune. But I doubt 
there will be any significant increased ease of "rendering the string over 
the bridge" because most of the friction is caused by the angling of the 
string between the bridge pins, together with the clamping affect of the 
bridge pin angle. Once the string has been mated to the bridge with 
positive bends at the bridge pins (either by the technician or by repeated 
blows over time), those bends will also have a tremendous impeding effect.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico

"For all true thought remains open to more than one interpretation - and 
this by reason of its nature."
Martin Heidegger, 'What is Called Thinking?'