> I've made such replacements both as one-piece-per-section, and as six > separate pieces more or less per the original (and similar to S&S and > many other modern pianos). Both seem to work equally well. Fewer > pieces are easier to make and install; but to my eye the six pieces look > a little nicer. Ed McMorrow has had a book out with a procedure for de-tuning the front duplex for what.... 15-20 years now ? Basically he ascribes to the idea that the front duplex should not be a harmonic 5th or octave, but rather a major 6th, a 2nd, or sometimes a 4th compared to the speaking length. A halfround brass placed appropriately to do the job is one way of going about it. You can grind down the existing in some cases if you need to. The job should be done in connection with the best possible capo profile...which essentially provides as much of a pivot point for a termination as is possible for the given capo. There are other considerations as well... how each type of capo will wear with time for a given profile. Ron Overs opts for simply hardening the capo to his own specs so that becomes a known... goes with a very thin and sharp profile and deals with the duplex lengths from a perspective of providing lengths and counterbearing angles that are steep enough to minimize the possibility of buzzing and at the same time allow for a well functioning duplex. It should be remembered... that the duplex sounds one hears are a matter in which one finds huge dissagreement as to whether or not this, that or the other effect is a desirable or not. Some folks like what others would call noisy duplexes... some dont like any duplex at all... others find that kind of solution...typified by the now defunct Bechstein design as dry and characterless. Selling our own preferences to the public is straight enough... but I wouldnt go so far as to try and declare my own preferences as outright universal truths. In the end.. the Steinway solution has an undeniable inescapable astounding domination... whether one likes that or not is rather aside the point. Myself... I like Ed's take on the matter. But I have no compunction to simply cleaning up an existing front duplex for what it is....and redoing the job some years down the line if needed... heck we tune pianos often enough because they go out of tune... I dont see the major difference in re-dressing an existing duplex system and otherwise leaving it alone. Cheers RicG
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