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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Andrew - I've heard this before. I'm not going to argue
against it, but I have to admit it makes no sense to me. Perhaps I just don't
understand. Logic tells me that if the wool cover "buffers" humidity, that means
it absorbs humidity. Humidity is water vapor, i.e. water molecules. So
where does the water go then? At some point, the blanket is going to
start dripping when it reaches saturation.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>If one were to ring the wool cover out now and then and
discharge the water that way, I could understand, but otherwise it seems
impossible to me. What is the physical/chemical mechanism at work
here?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Are you aware of any authoritative source of information
regarding this?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Thanks.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>A wool-felt
string-cover alone will protect the strings against rust. That has been
well established by grand pianos in (ocean front) beach-houses with
string-covers that have brand-new looking interiors after decades as compared
to their unprotected neighbors. Wool has the natural capacity to buffer
humidity and any sort of cover probably prevents condensation. This is
the first accessory I recommend.<BR><BR>Add a DC system and undercover and you
will then reduce the sound-board oscillation to negligible resulting in
tunings that last until your next service. You get to do a concert level
tuning each time you return to the instrument. <BR><BR>I have two
Sauters on the floor here. They are fine pianos which are much more
stabile than average. One has a DC with undercover and the other has DC
with undercover and string-cover. The one without the string-cover is
noticeably (to me) affected by the weather. The other one hasn't been
tuned in a coon's age and still has a solid tuning on
it.<BR><BR>YMMV<BR>Andrew Anderson</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>