<html> At 11:39 AM 3/13/2004 -0800, Otto wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I finally asked if she had some fairly light yarn, which I then loosely threaded through speaking length of the strings right next to the front bridge pins.  Noise gone -- without significant altering of the character of the sound.  </blockquote> That's a fun one -- and does no damage. Removable, etc. I've met a couple of cheap brash grands where I took the nasty rasp off by laying a pure wool shawl or blanket over the strings. (I wrote that one up for the Journal.) It does alter the character of the sound, but for the better. With good grands, I've noticed that the blanket (sold by Edwards) which keeps everything fresh and clean does also take down the edge of the sound a lot, especially in the treble. Susan</html>