Elementary String Leveling Questions

[David ilvedson]

> From:          arnold1@mindspring.com
> Date:          Fri, 1 Aug 1997 16:11:40 -0400 (EDT)
> To:            pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject:       Elementary String Leveling Questions
> Reply-to:      pianotech@ptg.org

I typically don't yank up the string because I don't want to 
have to pull up the other ones cuz I went to high.   The 
trick is how to tell if they are level.  I can sometimes feel 
with my fingertips and tell if one is higher than the others in 
which case I bring up the other two.  I have been experimenting 
with those old aluminum keybushing cauls and the hardwood ones 
also.  I would set one (upside down...it is just the right size 
to sit on the unison) on the three strings and if level they 
would sit there.  If the plane of the three strings was slanted 
i.e. left higher than middle which is higher than right, the 
caul would lean.  If the middle was higher than the left and 
right the caul would be unstable in its rest and this visually 
easy to see.  By lightly tapping the left string and then the 
right string and observing the movement of the caul I could 
often tell if the left or right was higher or lower.  i.e.  if 
the caul moved similarly with the two taps then the three 
strings might be level.  If for instance the right was lower  
then the caul might move a little more with the right tap than 
the left.   If one of them didn't move with the tap then it was 
lower than the middle and other string and the caul was resting 
on just two of the three strings..  Is this as clear as mud?  
What I found was I often got some good info but not everything.  
Sometimes you can see along the plane of the bottom of the caul 
and visually see if the middle was lower.  I suggest you folks 
give it try...

>Doesn't it make it much more likely that the strings which
> we level will break in the future?  Also, what about the notion that putting
> a kink somewhere in the speaking length will cause a false beat?  How about
> overstressing the agraffe itself?

I don't think the string is more likely to break in the future.  
We are not putting a kink in the string!  If done correctly it 
shouldn't stress the agraffe.  

> Should strings on vertical pianos also be leveled?  If so, would I bend the
> ones that are sticking out in toward the pinblock, or pull the inner ones
> out, as on a grand?  If I should bend the ones that are sticking out in,
> what tool should I use?

I have rarely done it but I believe you push down on the higher 
strings in an upright.

David ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA

> 
> Arnold Schmidt, Raleigh, NC, arnold1@mindspring.com
> 
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