[CAUT] hammer line

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Tim

I agree very much with the thinking that the sound the shank contributes 
is very much more important then most seem to give it credit for. I 
don't sort that way, but I end up do checking for shanks that have a 
sound contribution that is just plane unacceptable. In any given set 
there are always two or three I have to chuck.  Nearly always most 
important in the top two octaves.

Comparing a SSW weigh off to the frequencies would be interesting.  I 
would think by and large there should be a correspondance.... with 
perhaps a few rouge shanks. Might be worth a do !  :)

Cheers
RicB


    Ric,

    I have been following this thread also, but I'm not ready the buy  
    into using shanks to even the SW.  I find your second paragraph to be  
    more down the line of thought I use.

    The piano is supposed to be a percussion instrument.  Percussionists  
    are very particular about their sticks and mallets.  I approach the  
    shank as a drum stick.  Each shank makes its own pitch when tapped.   
    It is hard to hear for some, but they differ.  I sequence the shanks  
    from lowest pitch to highest pitch in the treble.  Once the  
    underlying "noise" from the shank is sequenced then I weigh off the  
    hammers to create a smooth SW from hammer to hammer.  I don't end up  
    with the problems others talk about with the strike line.  I have  
    never checked to see if there is a correlation between the shank  
    weight and the pitch.  I know there are faults to this approach, but  
    I see faults to the other approaches.  Who among us is faultless?

    Also, since I rebuild all my pianos with the Wapin Piano Bridge I  
    don't have problems with the hammerline being "funkified".

    Tim Coates