On Jan 7, 2011, at 7:51 AM, John Delacour wrote: > At 06:49 -0500 07/01/2011, Terry Farrell wrote: > > >> I don't have much experience with un-equal length bass string >> unisons that can't be tuned beatless being fixed with new equal- >> length strings. Has anyone done this, and can anyone offer an >> experienced opinion on whether lengths of a couple millimeters >> difference in the wrapped speaking length in a pair of unisons >> would commonly present tuning problems? > > If it did then most Steinway grands would do so. Would do what - have beating bass strings? >> Needless to say (I think?), I found all the bicord pairs in the >> picture below to be impossible to tune beatless - the best I could >> do was leave most of 'em with slow roll. A few were a fair bit >> worse. The wrap terminations are at the same position (equal >> distant from speaking bridge pins) at the bridge end, thus >> rendering unequal wrapped speaking lengths. >> >> The work on this Baldwin F blew me away - it was "rebuilt" by a >> company that is quite arguably the most respected in my area (or at >> least best known because of brand affiliation). >> >> If you ordered a set of strings, installed them and saw this, >> wouldn't you send the back to the string maker (after checking your >> measurements again to make sure you didn't provide bogus data)? > > Without seeing the soundboard bridge it's impossible to comment but > the stringmaker's "error" is pretty regular, that is to say that the > lower string of is consistently 3-4 mm further from the stud than > the upper one, so it's not just carelessness. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: P1050037.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 656853 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110107/d415b1eb/attachment-0001.jpg> -------------- next part -------------- If it's not carelessness, then it is by design? To what end? > Most grands have the soundboard bridge pins paired parallel to the > stringing stud so that both strings have exactly the same speaking > length and the same length of covering, and the copper line is > parallel both to the stud and the line of the bridge pins, As is this piano. (I presume a "stud" is an agraffe?) > but the bridge pins on most Steinway grands are not paired like that > and simply follow the line of the bridge so that the left string is > quite a bit longer than the right one. This isn't a Steinway, it is a Baldwin with the original bridges/caps/ pins. > For looks alone, if for no other reason, Steinway strings are > covered so that the copper is the same distance from the bridge pin > each side and the same distance from the stud at the front. This > means that not only is the speaking length different but also the > length of the covering. If this has caused problems with tuning > Steinways for the past 130 years, perhaps someone should let them > know so that they can put things right! Perhaps I will...... Terry Farrell
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC