The Duplex affect --an experiement

[Erwinspiano at aol.com]

Duplexers
  AS  a follow up to my original post
   Last night we had a roundtable discussion at our chapter  meeting 
regarding my experience as listed below.
  As you can imagine, in a group of independent piano technicians  there were 
a variety of opinions & intelligent conjecture offered. 
  My contention was that if the duplex scale is such a great invention  it 
should produce a noticeable effect upon the listener & content of the  sound 
emanating from any piano with a duplex scale should be enhanced.
  The short version is that Bob Davis suggested an experiment which,  any one 
with a roll of masking tape can do.
  Our test subject, was 1953 Steinway B with an original  board,new strings & 
action.  The voicing is in the range of what  many people would find 
acceptable. We enlisted one of members to play the same  piece of music after taping 
off the three rear duplex bars. As he played we took  of the tenor area tape. 
The clarity sustain & flavor of the piano tone was  greatly more appreciated by 
all present and of all areas & most pronounced  of the 3 individual sections.
     We then did the same thing with capos section 2  & 3. Similar result in 
capo 1. Capo 2 was less obvious but still  preferred.(i.e. .increased 
sustain,clarity & color. We taped off the  front duplexes as well & a similar outcome 
was observed though not nearly as  pronounced.  One thing to note about the 
front duplexes and that is that on  this 1953 B the draft angles are 
significantly steepr than most B I've  encountered & bleed thru is not an issue & sustain 
is good. Also lightly  pressing your finger on the front duplexes really 
kills the sustain as it  apparently limits the rocking of the string across the 
capo string contact  area.
  In our follow up assessments I was surmising that the more efficient  & 
strong the tone of a sound board is
the greater the duplex effect may be. 
  So try it yourself & see if it's just smoke & mirrors.   Whether it is a 
desirable affect....... is your call.
  I personally like it.
    Dale
  
 
 
 
 
  Hi all

  Michael Spreeman reminded me of the difference of opinions  regarding this 
subject recently & I remarked to him that I was by in Large  a nay sayer. Many 
on this list in the course of our discussions about belly  work have also 
been less than enthusiastic about the actual affect if  any of the rear Steinway 
invented by the same. IE. the part that sits  behind the bridge. I for sure 
want to go on record to say that the duplex  scale is highly over rated & isn't 
a magic bullet that most copy cat  manufacturers would have the public beleive.
 
  &..... I  remain the primarily of the same opinion but I  submit an 
interesting experience that happened to me the other day.
  I was in Los Angles following up on a 1905 Victorian  Steinway  A-2. I did 
a rib crowned belly job last Dec. It got everything  else new as well as new 
key set & beautiful Ronsen Bacon felt  hammers. On this A I removed the bass 
cantalever (first time)  which has  been a dynamic unqualified improvement. It 
now has a huge bottom end the likes  of which I've not encountered in an A-2.
The client who tunes as well as plays has massive ears & is a  very good 
player of Jazz to classics. After 10 months of  play in I recently received a 
request that I bring up the brightness  level of the piano just ever so slightly. 
I added 3 to 6 drops of  very thin plastic on the string cuts in octaves 3 & 4 
&  also octave 5 & the very top 8 notes with  thicker  plastic.
  After 10 minutes use  with a hair dryer to cure the plastic  the level of 
harmonic blending came up to a place where the tone just  launched into this 
new level of ethereal sounding amazing stuff that was  sucking  the music out of 
my finger tips. Anybody ever experience  this?  Uh huh.
  AS I sat & played it a bit myself I was sensing a sound, as if  Keith 
Jarrett himself was humming along with me as he does on his  recordings.  It was 
really cool.  It sounded like singers singing  softly &  slightly under the 
texture of the body of the piano tone.  It was such a wonderful sound. As I 
listened more closely I started  plucking the rear duplex in the first capo area & I 
could hear these  sounds in the music as he played. It was then I realized 
the sound I was  hearing was possibly coming from this duplex.
  I am fully aware that  a great tone comes from many things in  a belly that 
is functioning at maximum capacity & perhaps the duplex isn't  all that 
affective unless all those things  are. It was great fun   & I was stunned and 
enthralled by the entire experience.
  Food for thought?
  Dale



 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20071114/094fd17c/attachment.html