<HTML> In a message dated 10/25/03 10:44:16 AM, pianobuilders@olynet.com writes:<BR= > <BLOCKQUOTE CITE STYLE="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px" TYPE="CITE">I don't know. It's no= t something I've ever tried to design a test for. It is common practice to r= emove all, or at least most, of this curve during the string leveling oper= ation. And I try to concentrate on things that will actually have some measu= rable influence on piano performance. </BLOCKQUOTE> This comment also right to the point and valuable as always del. I have not tested for curve beyond eyeballing the string, however a small su= rface plate firmed to the keybed and leveled to the extreme string terminati= ons (obviously high treble easiest) would allow one to then run a surface ga= uge along a straightedge and actually gauge how much deviation we're batting= around. Once done, anything one tried to straighten the string could be the= n easily checked, but I would say the ear is the final arbitor, what does it= matter if you can't hear the difference you make. Trouble is this whole sur= face plate shebang has to come out to allow action/hammer testing. Sure this= whole surface plate thing seems obsessive/compulsive, but  I think i'= ll run it anyway and report any numbers. further...would an intentional stri= ng kink/anomaly be easily heard ? Glenn C.</HTML>