newbie questions

[Farrell]

> 1) I tried to reduce false beats by seating the strings on the bridge.
> However, the bridge on my "PSO" is hard to reach. Part of the treble
> bridge is directly behind the keyboard and you can't get to it from below
> or from above. Advice? What tools (makeshift or otherwise) do you use to
> seat strings on the bridge?

Remove action. Use brass rod to push (usually don't need to tap) strings
against bridge top. Even use very short section of rod and pry against it if
needed.

Regarding false beats. Isolate the string with the false beat. Take a small
hard flat-tipped tool (a brass rod in a combination handle would be ideal)
and press firmly on the top of the forward (closest to speaking length)
bridge pin (being reasonably careful to press parallel to the pin). Play the
note (the single string). Did the false beat go away? If it did, (someone
please correct me if I am speaking an untruth here - I am straining to the
limits of my expertice!) you won't have any luck eliminating false beats
with string seating or any other false beat elimination technique. The
bridge pins are loose. They need to be properly repaired (repair ranges from
recapping bridges to squirting in CA).

Although, you did mention duct tape. Hmmmmmmmm.......I wonder
if..................

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Neuman" <cneuman@phy.duke.edu>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 1:05 AM
Subject: newbie questions


> Thanks to all who have given me tuning tips! Here are some questions:
>
> 1) I tried to reduce false beats by seating the strings on the bridge.
> However, the bridge on my "PSO" is hard to reach. Part of the treble
> bridge is directly behind the keyboard and you can't get to it from below
> or from above. Advice? What tools (makeshift or otherwise) do you use to
> seat strings on the bridge?
>
> 2) I have heard that rust can cause false beats. And I found a little rust
> on the strings. I'm having a hard time not just spraying WD40 in there. I
> recall hearing someone say a while ago that WD40 should not be in, on, or
> near a piano.  That's a shame. And it's also a shame that duct tape has
> limited use inside a piano (perhaps it could replace leather on hammers!)
> But at least you get to use epoxy in pianos! Anway, what do you use to
> clean off rust?
>
> 3) For a flat piano, how flat must it be in order for it to need a pitch
> raise? I discovered that it's true that if you tune a flat piano up to
> pitch, it comes out flat! But I have also discovered that it gets better
> and better each tuning.
>
> Charles Neuman
> Plainview, NY
>
>
>
>