<html> <body> Listmembers, Some questions in response to the journal article; practical application. I service an S&S D where we are really unsatisfied with the mid to upper treble killer octaves.  I describe the sound a fuzzy.  The upper partials clash and do not settle into a clear ringing tone.  The high treble is fine.  This is the kind of sound you get from cheap chinese grands when you try to play them loud--distortion.  Problem is it happens at all dynamic levels.  Needling hasn't helped, shellac got us back some power but the sound still fritzes and fuzzes on us.  The Steinway Artist I was working with voted for replacement with Hamburg hammers (I'll second that one).  I was thinking about swapping in different hammers to check if it is the hammers but with this article I wonder about other solutions.  This four going on five year old S&S D has other issues but tonally we are experiencing a weaker, unresolved tone in this area. Would the use of riblets improve this situation?  I clamped a small grip on a bridge-pin and did not notice a difference here and so didn't explore soundboard impedance any further.  Perhaps stiffness and reducing the resonant frequency a little would help? Comments? Andrew Anderson at TAMIU</body> </html>