<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3059" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>"A:  the piano was restrung at some point by someone who was too lazy (or ignorant) to use the correct size of wire, and just used what he had on hand"</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Very likely</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM></EM></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>"or B:  the piano really came out of the factory like this."</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Unlikely, but I've seen worse from a factory.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM></EM></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><EM>"In either case, when it comes to restringing, should I use the same sizes as before, or interpolate half sizes in between the abrupt changes?  I was thinking that if there are say, twelve consecutive notes that are size 16 and then the size changes to 17.5, maybe I should use size 16 for four notes, size 16.5 for four notes, and size 17 for four notes.  Is this a dumb idea?"</EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Did Scotty just beam me up? Have I been in a time warp?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Yes, it is a "dumb idea" (your words). I don't mean to harp on you in particular, but do some folks on this list not read other posts? We just had a discussion two days ago about restringing and rescaling. In the past, there have been dozens of discussions about wire sizes and rescaling. Most experienced rebuilders who aim for good (or better) results, rescale every piano that gets new strings in their shop AS A MATTER OF COURSE.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>If you don't know what you are doing with rescaling - like me - hire a qualified technician to rescale the piano for you. Why guess? Fees are generally very modest and you will likely be improving the piano over its original configuration.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>IMHO, rescale every piano that gets new strings in your shop.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>And without any doubt what-so-ever, if you have any inclination that the current scale is not original, or not "good" (for whatever reason), rescale the piano.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>RESCALE! There are professionals out there who provide excellent rescaling services for their livelihood! To name just a few that I am aware of: Del Fandrich, Ron Nossaman, Joe Garritt, David Sanderson, and I'm sure there are dozens others.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Sorry for all the capital letters in this post, but I'm really quite amazed how there doesn't seem to be an awareness of rescaling as even an option.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>I'll get off my high horse now. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 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=tubist@swbell.net href="mailto:tubist@swbell.net">Paul Mulik</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 09, 2007 7:52 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> stringing scale on old grand</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello list,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm rebuilding a 100-year-old old Frank S. Botefuhr (stencil) grand that was given to me free of charge.  Mostly, I'm just doing this for the eductional experience, but I hope to end up with a saleable piano when I'm done.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>After measuring downbearing at several points and lowering the string tension as Reblitz recommends, </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>I removed the treble strings (starting from the top), measuring them with a music wire gauge as I went.  I had expected to find that six or eight consecutive notes would have the same size wire, then the wire size would be a half-size larger for the next six or eight notes, etc., all the way down.  However, this was not the case on this piano.  Through most of the treble and tenor, the wire size was the same for about an octave, then it was abruptly 1.5 sizes larger.</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So I'm wondering which is the case:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A:  the piano was restrung at some point by someone who was too lazy (or ignorant) to use the correct size of wire, and just used what he had on hand</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>or B:  the piano really came out of the factory like this.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In either case, when it comes to restringing, should I use the same sizes as before, or interpolate half sizes in between the abrupt changes?  I was thinking that if there are say, twelve consecutive notes that are size 16 and then the size changes to 17.5, maybe I should use size 16 for four notes, size 16.5 for four notes, and size 17 for four notes.  Is this a dumb idea?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paul Mulik</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joplin MO  </FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>