Not long ago I believe someone posted to this list recently about the possibility of improving the extreme downward angle of the front string segments of a 1960's vintage Mason and Hamli BB. I regularly tune such an instrument and am aware of the problems induced by the extreme design that was imposed on these instruments. The piano I tune needs to be rebuilt, and every time I tune it I wonder if it could be improved. Today I realized that the tilt of the tuning pins in this piano is extreme, the added bearing bars are high, and the under string felt is thick. If the pinblock was drilled for vertical pins, it should be possible to reconfigure the plate to allow for the strings to pass to the capo bar with shallower angles. I hope the person who asked about this reads this e-mail. Take a look and see if you agree this might make rebuilding possible. Ed Sutton
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