Greetings all, I didn't think about false beats, anymore. Early on, I took them on everywhere I found them. That was not a feasible approach, since there were so many that didnt' seem to have anything to do with the string or pin/capo, etc. So, I gradually learned to fudge the other strings in the unison enough to make a decent note. Then I began to look for the easiest, most effective (in a time/effort/cost sense) thing I could do. I had been wavering between ignoring them and becoming obsessed with them, (think Elmer Fudd and a rabbit). In a weekly tuning schedule, what could I do that would eliminate the most beats for the least effort? I began with the easiest thing first, and never found anything better. As I tune a grand, the first thing I do upon encountering a false beating string is to take the end of the tuning tip and gently massage one pass across the back string, coming up the string, opposite to the distal bridge pin so that I am basically pressing the string into pin and bridge with about equal force. Then I lift the tuning hammer over the bridge and again, lightly press the speaking length into the pin and bridge as I rub once over the string's first couple of inches while bringing the hammer back to the tuning pin. The operative word here is lightly, there is little difference in results whether I press lightly, or double that force. From the tuning posture, for those that want to incorporate this, the full extension of your arm jeopardizes the rotator cuff if a lot of muscle is applied, so go lightly and see what level of push makes things happen, You may get instant returns on the effort. The notes generally go flat, and I wondered if the steel on steel friction was changing the pitch, rather than the straightening of the wire's curvature by the pin. After waiting 20 minutes, the note was still flat, so I don't think the end of the tuning tip is heating things up much. Anyhow, it only takes about 6 seconds to settle the string, this way, so it is a cheap move that yields great results often enough so that it is my first shot when a note just doesn't want to be still. Then, depending on venue, I ignore or obsess. Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC