<HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1264" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Del,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>That's a very interesting history.  Makes one wonder if/how the current custom rescalers/stringmakers are controlling the longitudinal mode?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Mike </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=pianobuilders@olynet.com href="mailto:pianobuilders@olynet.com">Delwin D Fandrich</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=spalding48@earthlink.net href="mailto:spalding48@earthlink.net">spalding48@earthlink.net</A>;<A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 10/13/2003 4:25:56 PM </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Longitudinal mode info</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=spalding48@earthlink.net href="mailto:spalding48@earthlink.net">Michael Spalding</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> October 13, 2003 11:26 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Longitudinal mode info</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif" size=2>Many thanks to Bob, Del, and George who provided the patent information.  Just printed out a copy from the USPTO website; this should provide excellent entertainment on many a sleepless night!!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif" size=2>Del, was Conklin's method then put into practice on some or all of Baldwin's pianos?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif" size=2>Mike</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Well, yes and no. Do another patent office search and you'll find a patent issued for the string winding machine required to reach the level of precision needed to make the concept work as Mr Conklin intended. The machine was way too slow for production -- about one set of strings per machine per day -- and it was (they were?) being shipped off to Mapes about the time I arrived at the company. During my time there Mapes was wrapping Baldwin bass strings on their regular machines. So, yes, the strings were wrapped to the required core and wrap specifications but, no, they had nothing like the precision required to actually tune the longitudinals to any kind of predictable harmonic. After you've figured out how to calculate the required numbers you'll see that to achieve effective longitudinal mode tuning great liberties are taken with core and wrap wire sizes. There is no consistency to them at all. This, then, sacrifices tonal uniformity, power and inharmonicity. By not wrapping to the required precision the company had ended up with the worst of both systems. Since it was unlikely Mapes was ever going to be able to deliver the kind of consistency and precision required by SynchroTone I had just started redesigning it out of the bass scales one at a time when I left the company. (I'm not intending to be hard on Mapes here. They were under severe budget controls -- those strings had to be CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP!) I don't know what happened after that.</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>