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<DIV>David:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The agraffe-like hardware devices which you refer to were an impor=
tant part of the "Centennial Grand". I feature an 1875 "Style 5"&=
nbsp; Centennial Grand in my "Early Steinway Grand" program. The =
first-generation (early 1870's) front duplex had a very low draft angle=
, and included agraffes to the top of the piano. On the first-generati=
on front duplexing, the string front termination was at the agraffe, and the=
round hole may not have been effective at consistently leaking...maybe it w=
as too good at clamping..... The 1875 patent idea was =
the first front duplex system I know of to terminate the string with a round=
bar, and the first time the front duplexing looked at all like the modern S=
teinway. It wasn't the first time Steinway introduced=
a duplexing idea with expensive hardware and later included the concep=
t in simple plate casting later; the first generation duplexing w=
as introduced in the same way, with duplex inserts which design&nb=
sp;later became part of the casting.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Ask Webb to have me give the program at MARC when I come -LOL - the cla=
sses are all scheduled already - I have my theories about this stuff, some o=
f which I blame on Del, but which he might distance himself from....Steinway=
's duplexing efforts in the 1870's are part of a little-observed, larger rea=
lity which should be brought to the fore and result in a revision of the his=
tory of piano technology. It's sort of the climax of my "Early S=
teinway Grand" program....and possibly a yet-to-be-written journal article..=
..and I believe it should have an impact on the history of piano t=
echnology, oh, lofty stuff... Well, I'll have my laptop at MARC and wo=
uld be happy to share some of the pics with you there if you're interested.<=
/DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for the initial question about capo/tasto/disastro nomenclature, hmm=
m....can't say I've cleared the waters any, though you've pointed to CFT's u=
se of the terms...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Bill Shull</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 2/14/2004 7:49:27 PM Pacific Standard Time, davidsko=
lnik@optonline.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue =
2px solid">Garret & others,<BR><BR>The recent discussion titled "Capo ba=
rs", which extended from 1/28 to 2/02, was attempting to address both etymol=
ogy and consistency of nomenclature. Of the first I have nothing to ad=
d, however, looking into the second proved illuminating.<BR><BR>At 04:11 PM =
1/31/2004 -0500, Garret wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Del wrote: There is a drawi=
ng in one of my PT Journal articles illustrating what I mean.<BR><BR>Does so=
meone know off hand what PT Journal issue that was?<BR><BR>Garret</BLOCKQUOT=
E><BR>You may have already found this information, but I don't see that anyo=
ne replied to your request on list. I believe the article Del was refe=
rring to was in the August 1995 issue, titled "The Designer's Notebook-- Fro=
nt Duplex Stringing Scales". This was a second installment, the first =
having appeared in the June issue, and both being in response to a round-tab=
le discussion regarding capo d'astros which appeared in the February 1995 is=
sue. <BR><BR>There seems to be some confusion regarding the term capo d'astr=
o and capo tastro. I hadn't previously come across <I>capo tastro, <BR=
></I>and, in any case, the element seems most often simply referred to as "c=
apo bar". <BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><B><I>Delwin D Fandrich <=
;fandrich@pianobuilders.com></I></B> wrote: <BR>The capo tastro bar and t=
he V-bar are two different things even if they are most often part of the sa=
me casting. The capo-tastro bar is formed in the bottom part of the mold, th=
e V-bar in the top. </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Vince Myrkalo then asked:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 17:4=
7:26 -0800 (PST)<BR>From: madelyn mrykalo <madvinmryk@yahoo.com><BR>Su=
bject: RE: Capo bars<BR><BR>Is there a difference between capo tastro and ca=
po d'astro?</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>and Del (I think) sent the following:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 08:2=
5:13 -0800<BR>From: Delwin D Fandrich <fandrich@pianobuilders.com><BR>=
Subject: RE: Capo bars</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT face="Comic Sans MS=
" color=#0000ff>According to Giraffes, Black Dragons, and Other Pianos by =
Edwin M. Good (Second Edition, 2001. Published by the Stanford University Pr=
ess, ), capo d' astro is essentially a meaningless term (at least as applied=
to the piano) meaning "cap of the star." In other words it was a marketing =
term. Capo tastro is Italian for "cap of the key" which at least has some re=
lationship to a component of the piano. Probably a more meaningful term woul=
d be "capotasto," also from Italian, meaning "head of the fingerboard." (Acc=
ording to the Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary.)</FONT></BLOCKQUOT=
E><BR><BR><BR>I found the Steinway patent # 170,646 (C.F. Theodore Steinway =
- October 20, 1875) titled "Improvement in Agraffes For Piano-Fortes" releva=
ntly interesting in this matter. It's actually a patent for individual=
capodastro. These were like large brass machine thread screws w=
hich were installed from beneath into what Steinway referred to simply as a =
transverse bar. The wide slot in the head of this screw then received =
a round steel "face", which was hammered into place, He claimed =
this modification "<I>reduced the width of the bearing surfaces of the capod=
astros ... and at the same time the strings are prevented from wearing into =
the faces of the capodastros."</I> It seems that he was re=
ferring to the capodastro as the member that <I>would normally</I> be contac=
ting the strings, like the V bar. Does anyone know whether any pianos =
were actually produced with this feature? <BR><BR><BR>David Skolnik</BLOCKQU=
OTE></DIV>
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