<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> What is it that you are hoping to achieve by tapping the strings? If you've been reading on this list, it has been mentioned by many and perhaps mostly by it's strongest proponent in Ron Nossman that tapping strings produces mostly dents in the bridge cap but only a short term effect in seating the string. If I understood correctly the main cause of the string creeping up off the bridge top is the bridge pin climbing up out of it's hole. I've seen this kind of thing in wood quite frequently. If you open up the wall of an older home you will almost always find the nails being somewhat proud of the wood. I believe that the same thing is happening in the bridge and the pins need only to be lightly tapped back in place. I personally think that this phenomenon also occurs in the pin block too. I've seen older pianos where it seems obvious that the pins were originally deeper in the block. I won't ever drive them to the point where the coil is touching but if I find them with the coil a considerable distance from the plate I will drive them in some and retune. I hope this helps. Greg Wimblees@aol.com wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>We are supposed to tap the strings to seat them on the bridge. But how often should this be done? Every time a piano is tuned, once a month, whenever we feel like it? When the boss is looking over our shoulder, just to let him think there is some deep secret to this tuning stuff? :) Wim</blockquote> -- Greg Newell <A HREF="mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net">mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net</A>  </html>