More False Beats S&S

[Richard Brekne]

Farrell wrote:

> Tuning a 1996 S&S M today I noticed many prominent false beats in the
> hi-treble section.....cymbal-tone syndrome.... Gently place rod on top of bridge pin... False beat does not go away, but.tone dies out real fast, like the string was poorly muted. 


Terry I have noticed the same thing on the Steinway grands, and have yet 
to encounter that same muting of the sound on other pianos... I really 
don't know why this is the case... I do know that if you find you can 
get rid of some of the falseness this way, then CA or epoxy in the 
Bridge pin holes will help.

As far as the cymbal syndrome is concerned... you are not the first 
person to mention this in relation to Steinways (or other grands with 
highly active front duplexes) Solution is to redress the capo bar and 
voice the hammers. You can also get into retuning the duplex... read Ed 
McMorrows book for some interesting thoughts on this point. He refers to 
this "cymbal syndrome" of yours to a kind of whistling noise. At least I 
think you are talking about the same thing... :)

> 
> 
> So what happened in the lower half of this section? Why did just touching
> (super-duper lightly only) the forward bridge pins cause the strings to mute
> out? On the Boston that I posted on recently, as well as many other pianos,
> you hear a false beat and when you press gently on loose bridge pin, false
> beat is eliminated AND tone remains clear

Don't worry about the muting effect... it wont happen when you CA or 
Epoxy the Bridge pins. As far as lessening of the falseness, you 
probably achieved a very temporary solution by re-seating the pins. I 
like Ron N's position on this seating business... makes a lot of sense.

> 
> I'm really trying to understand the causes of so much garbage sounds that
> emanate from the high treble of pianos (er, a, well thinking of some other
> pianos, I guess anywhere on the scale!). Any thoughts on this situation?


You and just about everyone else. Its fascinating for sure. Lots of 
sources of diverse types of noise and falseness. As far as the muting 
effect you observed... I think .... and only think... (as I am but an 
egg in these matters) that the Steinway bridge and bridge pin 
configuration is like highly sensitive to changes in mass. Clamp a small 
vise grips onto a bridge pin on a Steinway and the string goes dead 
sounding... but on many other pianos there is only a small difference in 
sound quality. Why this is the case...beats me but I bet the answer is 
an interesting one.

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

-- 
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no