Newton, I am happy that this is not true for all stringmakers in the world. Here in Holland we have one called Barth Jan Kooy in Groningen. You send him a paper pattern with all the hitch- and bridge pins and agraffes,tell him the diameter of the last and the first string or what ever you think is importent. And he makes a perfect bass. If he has doubts about your data he calls and checks if you haven't made any mistakes. Before he was in bussiness there was another firm whose I will not mention, that just copied the strings that you sent them. They also made funy kinks in the core wire where the copper should end. I once got a job on a piano that someone else started working on but didn't finish. There were bass string made that way. I plotted them in the German scaling program Mensurix and tossed them in my scrap metal box. Michiel. Meppel the Netherlands. -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: Newton Hunt <nhunt@jagat.com> Aan: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org> Datum: zaterdag 21 augustus 1999 16:21 Onderwerp: Re: Bass String Scale >> I have replaced two sets of 85-90 year old bass strings with sets that actually sounded a little worse! > >I experienced this some 30 years ago or more and wondered why. I got >involved in rescaling when I unstrung a Hardman Peck that had a >totally "wrong" set of treble strings. I measured the speaking >lengths and compared them to an S&S O, calculated tensions and >adjusted the S&S scale to match the tensions for the Hardman. Turned >out to be a nice tuning and sounding piano. > >Then I started on bass strings when I called Mapes for a set of >strings for an S&S M and told them I wanted an original factory set >without shortening the copper. They said "We don't do that!" I said >"Like hell, I am looking at a set right now where we sent in a pattern >AND samples and it has copper ending 1 1/4" from the agraffe!" >Originals were about 5/8". Mapes sent a set UPS collect and I refused >the shipment. I sat down at the computer and designed my first set of >strings, ordered them from Schaff and they sounded just fine. I >continued to refine my program until Parsons came out with his. > >I asked a bass string supply house's main string winder why winders >shortened the copper. His answer was essentially, "I don't know, we >just been doing it that way for years." Sheesh!!! > >With computers, scale data, formulae and vast experience in good and >bad scales why manufacturer still, today, continue to make pianos with >bad scales! Makes no sense to me. > >Designing a decent scale is not hard as long as you have some minor >understanding of tension, power, inharmonicity, computers, math and >general engineering principles. The main problem is measuring and >data entry, the rest is just patience and asking, "what if?" > >With today's understandings there is absolutely no reason to rely upon >the poor judgment and workmanship of some bass string suppliers. I >prefer, instead, to supply them with, use this core, this copper, >start here and end there. I don't even tell them the make or model of >the piano. > >Yes, they charge more because they have to make a scale stick but I >would rather pay a bit more and get what _I_ want. I have messed up >and have had to pay for two sets twice. The last time because I made >a data entry error, off by one note. Real easy to spot because the >copper was running into the agraffes. I checked it all out and _I_ >had messed up. > >See what you did, Mark, you go me up on my soap box again!! > >This is one of my main peeves. Stupidity perseveres! > > Newton > > >
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