<html> Hi Fred,                Most of the falseness noticed, has been with rust and dirt near the termination points.  Having said that,  I have noticed an improvement in power and sustain on PSO's with very rusty strings, once they are cleaned up.   With newer pianos, that has rust , I clean them up as a matter of routine with a string eraser.   On bad pianos, I have been aggressive with 600 grit, wet and dry to get them nice and clean,  it makes a big difference.  I know, I'm crazy, <G>  But it's the lesser of two evils. Bridge pins and CA:   Place some paper towel between the notch and the strings and drip a few drops of the thin viscosity down the pin.  A second piece of paper towel to keep the excess  from forming between the string and bridge cap.  I use this for back against the wall treatment. My preference is to pull the pin, and use medium viscosity for the gap filling properties, also push the pin so the material is on the back side of the pin restoring side bearing. When recapping, I use thin CA as a pin driving fluid. It makes a big difference in power cleanness and sustain. Been doing this for a few years, and I have noticed cleaner and stronger sounding trebles.  I may be fooling myself, but I think the tuning seems more stable. My thought's on the matter, is that the pin to bridge connection has been may impervious to moisture swings.  Just a theory.   A few colleagues have tried this, and have found similar results.  Since the pianos have have a lot of work done to them, there is no real proof. Regards Roger. At 08:38 AM 2/19/02 -0700, you wrote: >Roger, ><x-tab>       </x-tab>Have you actually noticed distortion caused by a "normal" level of >dirt/rust on the strings? No question that when it occurs around a >termination (bridge pin, agraffe, capo), it can cause distortion. But in >the speaking length, I have never been able to hear a difference between >a rusty string and one that's been cleaned. But maybe I just live in a >climate where the strings don't get corroded enough to notice. ><x-tab>       </x-tab>With respect to termination dirt, I had an experience once which really >brought home the importance of clean termination to me. A client called, >saying a student had spilled some soda on some strings, and they were >"dead." I expected the hammers to be the problem, but when I went, I >found no visual evidence whatsover of the spill. Certainly nothing had >spilled on hammer or damper felt. But three or four notes were, indeed, >very obviously dead as a doornail. ><x-tab>       </x-tab>After fussing around quite a bit, I found that the problem was just a >bit of sticky residue between strings and capo. And the only way I could >solve the problem was by lowering tension enough to fit a damp rag >between strings and capo and clean thoroughly (I tried using the damp >rag on the strings and capo from below, jogging strings back and forth, >etc. No soap. No noticeable improvement). Utterly amazing that a bit of >sticky Coke could have such a pronounced effect. ><x-tab>       </x-tab>Also wanted to ask if you have a good way to apply CA to bridge pins, >without leaving visual residue. Or a good technique for cleaning up >residue. >Regards, >Fred Sturm >University of New Mexico > >jolly roger wrote: >> >> Hi Fred. >>              A good tip,  I might add string distortion can be caused >> by rust and dirt, so make sure the strings are clean and bright. >> >> regards Roger >> > </html>