An interesting (perhaps) sidebar to this discussion: I was asked to diagnose problems on a new Rieger-Kloss instrument recently. The customer complained of zinging throughout the piano. The design of the felt in the agraffe section has it positioned 1-2 inches away from the agraffe. A fair amount of leakage through the entire section was evident and could be easily removed by inserting felt underneath the string closer to the agraffe. The capo section was another matter entirely. The counterbearing section has a series of duplex bars perfectly tuned to the fundamental in the relationship of an octave. A beautifully tuned duplex. It was zinging like crazy from the bottom to the top. The only remedy here, as I see it, is to change the design and move the duplexes in toward the capo bar. Since it is a warranty issue at present, I did not undertake such a remedy and have yet to present it to the rep. Very hard hammers did not help the situation either, but voicing did not alleviate the problem. Comment if you care to, I more wanted to relate the incident. David Love davidlovepianos@earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: Ron Nossaman <RNossaman@cox.net> > To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org> > Date: 1/27/2003 1:43:02 PM > Subject: Re: Tuning problems: capo improvement suggestions > > > >>Now I have a question. If string cutting of iron V bars is such a > >>horrible problem, why isn't it such a horrible problem in agraffes? > > > >I think it is Ron, but the symptom (string noise) as it appears in the > >capo-with-front-duplex sections doesn't present to the same degree in the > >agraffed section, since the (usually) shorter free string length between > >the agraffe and the bearing felt or bearing bar reduces the ability for > >string noise to develop. Mind you, many agraffes do present with a slight > >'zing' which is directly attributable to poorly shaped or deformed string > >holes. >
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