M&A A

[RicB]

Hi Don

Good point bringing up pitch locks. Why they can influence the classic 
false beat to begin with needs a good explanation not to mention how the 
loose pin idea fits into that box. I remain convinced we are still 
largely speculating on the whole subject matter. Lots of observations 
but the only things that add up are pretty general in nature. 

I can confirm your humidity observations as well,  at least on a few 
instruments. Might be interesting to see if that can be connected to any 
particular kind of bridge type... ie hardwood vs laminate....evnt 
laminate direction etc.

I'm always up for a bag of tricks thread... but I also wonder if anyone 
has observed some set of conditions where false beats never exist ?

I still find it strange about this M&H A tho... pretty darn old.... lots 
of more then hairline cracks at the bridge pins... and yet one of the 
cleanest sounding instruments I've ever heard... with the only 
noticeable false beat on a unison with tight pins.... plus an extremely 
massive bridge.  Neat bridge at that...  long bridge was pretty straight 
as long bridges go, except for the dogleg in the tenor. Didnt like the 
bass much but the lowest tenor notes were really nice.  Might be fun to 
try and change only the bass bridge to see if a better match could be 
accomplished without the use of a transition bridge.

Cheers
RicB


>     Hi Ric, Paul and Mike,
>
>     I believe the false beat is being caused by some defect (possibly in
>     termination) which interferes with the ability of the strings to couple.
>     (As in the coupled motion of piano strings, Scientific American).
>     Apparently pitch lock "staples" fix the problem.
>
>     CA glue seems to work as well--perhaps because it is changing the nature of
>     the termination. Perhaps it makes the bridge denser or causes a change in
>     mass?
>
>     Changing humidity levels can affect false beats too. I've worked on a 9
>     foot instrument which in winter has false beats on every string from where
>     the agraffes stop to the top note--that in summer time has almost no false
>     beats. The strange part is that it is equipped with a DC system and a
>     bottom cover, and is kept closed up most of the time. I did not do the DC
>     install and I suspect the controller may be faulty in some way.
>
>     If the false beat is coming from a front duplex--then changing the mass of
>     the string by adding a drop of glue to the string does sometimes work.
>
>     So, how about a "bag of tricks" that work thread?