[pianotech] question about agraffes and uprights

[Ron Nossaman]

On 2/8/2013 6:00 PM, Roger at Integra.net wrote:
>Certainly, it is known that if you install a hard bridge pin
> made of water cooled drill rod, you will hear a zing in the string
> especially in the mid to lower sections; so hardness of the
> terminations are important.

Is it? I confess I've never tried it, nor run across it. String 
termination zings I've encountered have always been from inadequate 
bearing or pin angles. I know Ron Overs is a big fan of hardened 
terminations, and routinely electroless nickel plates agraffes to harden 
the termination surface. He has also custom made steel agraffes to get 
as hard and rigid a termination as he can. He flame hardens capos as 
well. His pianos are as clean sounding as anything I've heard.


> Now let’s see how the flood of
> comments or counter comment picks this apart, especially those that
> claim that the lower quality grand pianos with no agraffes sound
> “fine” and the good quality uprights without agraffes sound great.

To me, lower quality grands without agraffes sound like lower quality 
grands, and good quality uprights tend to sound like good quality 
uprights if the voicing is decent. I can't blame either on the presence 
or lack of agraffes. There are way too many other variables.
Ron N