I dunno Susan... :) ... just seems to me like if you want to make sure you know what (if any) effect the 4th string has on sustain for the regular unison strings you probably should just remove it. Damping it certainly inhibits any <<feedback>> the 4th string might have but it doesnt stop the initial bleed off of energy from the unison. Just seems most likely you should remove them... Cheers RicB ssssnn writes. I think that depends on what you are testing for, Ric. Are you testing for everything that the fourth string might do, such as board-loading, etc? Or do you feel that the main effect of the fourth string is from the sympathetic vibration, which affects coupling and the overtone profile? I doubt that having a muted fourth string has anything like as much of an effect as the openly ringing one does -- in fact, I know it doesn't, from having tuned with it muted and unmuted. sssssnn
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC