[CAUT] agraffe leveling

[Fred Sturm]

On Mar 26, 2009, at 10:05 AM, David Ilvedson wrote:

> I was attempting to level the strings on a newer Yam C6 the other  
> day.   According to Goss's leveling device, all the tenor agraffes  
> were way off.   I tried pulling up the left string to level but  
> couldn't make enough of a difference.   A bad batch of agraffe  
> drilling?   I guess in this situation you have to fit the hammer to  
> what you've got?
>
> David Ilvedson, RPT
> Pacifica, CA 94044

Hi David,
	To amplify a bit on what Joe wrote, usually if the agraffes are  
drilled (or possibly it has to do with installation and how the  
threads and plate affect the final position) so that the holes are  
slanted, you can still get the strings into one plane. Meaning they  
slant relative to "level" (the bubble isn't centered), but when you  
pluck them, all are muted equally. Then, when you mate the hammer, you  
will probably find that you need a subtle slant to the filing of the  
top of the hammer. But this is still much better than having one  
string higher or lower than the other two. First, you don't have to do  
strange custom filing, making some parts of the crown higher than the  
other. And second, what you have done should work in una corda  
position as well, as the slanted hammer will line up with the slanted  
string plane in both positions.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu