Hi again David. After reading a couple other posts on this thread I thought I might add a few thoughts on the matter. My reply below was meant to be taken bit lightly, but seriously just the same. Its probably a good idea to remember that by definition you are not going to make any improvements per'se... only alterations. Now I'm not naive enough to not be aware of the fact that ofte times the changes we make will be appreciated by many as improvements... and in some cases nearly everyone passing judgment on said changes will be in agreement. But in reality that kind of consensus is a good deal more rare then it may appear. For a variety of reasons as well, some less rational then others to be sure, some more so. I'll throw out a few examples of modern day popular <<design changes>> that are far more controversial then advocates of these want to admit. McMorrows light weight hammer approach, Stanwoods action re-designs, and some of the total redesigns to well known brand names we've seen discussed here. While many approve of these there can be no doubt that many do not. And this most definitely and most importantly includes our matron saint... the pianist. So what do we tell the customer when we propose something like an action redesign, a rescaling... or anything of the kind ? Personally, I've gotten to the point where I guard my comments. Instead of throwing out lots of superlatives, declarations and promises of way better performance... I simply discuss thoroughly what the actual expected results of any change I propose are. I can say the action will play faster, lighter, heavier, bigger,... or the piano will sound deeper, brighter... whatever you get the drift. If the customer likes the sound of any proposal.. then we go forward if not then we dont. In anycase the customer has a much clearer idea what she is buying into and I am held to a much more reasonable form of accountability. So yeah... J.D. spelled out the technical info you need to supply a string maker, and in addition you need to describe what kind of performance change you are looking for. If you don't then you get only the scale designers idea of what an improvement is. With which you may end up being exactly ok with... or you may not. Just a small note of caution before promising the world to a customer. Cheers RicB I suppose amoung other things,... what your definition of an <<improvement>> is... :) Cheers RicB What information does the string maker need for improving the scaling of the bass section in a 5'3" George Steck? David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, CA 94044
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