[CAUT] string dents

[RicB]

Hi Jim an'all.


This could cause a false beat alright, and the bridge pin could be tight 
as the proverbial sword in the stone. Since false beats that respond to 
the screwdriver pressure trick can be measured to occur in just about 
any vibrational direction you only need to create some form of 
springyness at the bridge / bridgepin termination to get one. Heck... 
even slight variance in the string diameter right at or very close to 
the clamp could do it.

The popular idea today is that the pin itself is the termination... 
functioning like a pendulum support... and only when it (the pin)  moves 
will a false beat (of the type mentioned above) will occur.  This just 
isnt true. The entire termination is just as likely to start oscillating 
in phase with any particular string vibration direction as any other 
one.  That explains (at least to me) why you can run into loose pins 
with no false beat, or pins tight as can be that beat like crazy.  
Again.. always refering to the kind of false beat that responds to the 
screwdriver trick.

We definitely do not want to do anything that might contribute to the 
termination becoming springy enough in any given direction to start 
behaving like this. Severe dents in the notch may not always result in a 
false beat... but they, like loose pins, certainly increase the odds.

Cheers
RicB



    Ditto what Ron, Fred and other said. However, we had a student who did
    that and we found that he hit the string hard enough to slightly smash
    the wood by the pin, causing the exact problem (false beats) we're
    trying to avoid! Even though the dent is a bit away from the pin check
    this out and see if the string now sits in a slight depression of wood.

     

    Regards,

    Jim Busby BYU