Theoretical question

[David ilvedson]

> From:          "robert sadowski" <rls@ncinter.net>
> To:            "PTG" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Subject:       Theoretical question
> Date:          Sat, 16 Aug 1997 08:22:13 -0400
> Reply-to:      pianotech@ptg.org

Hey guys just lift the lid up and down rapidly and you've got 
the same effect.  

David ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA

> Paul,
> I've spent many years in bands and realized that the basically principles
> of guitar strings making waves are basically the same as pianos but the
> results are different.
> I may be going out on a limb here but  the guitar is using much smaller
> gauge wire to produce the same pitches as a piano. I don't believe the
> overtones are as much a factor. I've experimented with guitars and have
> noticed that beats produced by stretched fourths and fifths on guitars are
> far less noticable even when beating rapidly.  These beat rates could not
> be tolerated on a piano. In the guitars case I don't think the whammy bar
> really returns the strings exactly to their original position but our ears
> can tolerate the difference in pitch left behind after the bar is returned,
> especially in a group situation. I think you would find that any
> experimental device like this on a piano would quickly render our fine
> tuning jobs very painful to listen to.  I'd like to hear from the list
> about any experiments in the history of the industry attempting to make
> pianos more stable tuning wise.
> 
> Bob Sadowski RPT
> Erie,PA.
> 
>