String Motion

[Les Smith]

On Fri, 3 Oct 1997, robert sadowski wrote:

> I wondered this yesterday while tuning a really bad Story & Clark console
> (were there any good ones?) with a lot of bad string spacing.  Some of the
> unison wires were almost touching each other but not close enough to
> "buzz".  

First of all "really bad S&C console" is redundant! Next, I think the
tuning problems are related to the string spacing, but not in the way
you think. I can think of two things I would check out the next time
I went to tune this piano. First, if the pressure bar is not tightened
down enough, it will allow the strings to slip sideways and also cause
all sorts of tuning problems. Secondly, poor string spacing can also
be the result of loose bridge pins, or a bridge that is actually self-
destructing. Since this is an S&C piano, it is possible that BOTH con-
ditions are present. In any case, the piano will remain untunable un-
til these problems are addressed and corrected.

PS In the category of totally useless knowledge, the Clark, in Story
and Clark, was actually Melville Clark of player piano fame, who,
among other things invented a clockwork roll motor for turning play-
rolls that did not rely on pneumatic power to accomplish its purpose
and thus left more suction to directed to other functions, like playing
the notes and pedals. The clockwork roll motor and Melville's inven-
tive genuis in the field of PLAYER PIANOS are still widely admired by
collectors today. However, no one mentions the S&C consoles! :)

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net