<!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 6.00.2900.3354" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">"...lowest plain wire strings will be really sharp, but the wound strings right next to them <EM>on the same bridge</EM> won't be anywhere near as sharp.  How does this happen?"</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">What the heck, I'll go out on a limb here - now this is just my guess: Plain wire strings in the low tenor are larger diameter than the cores of the low tenor wound strings. As the RH goes up and the panel and bridge rise - increasing the tension on the low tenor strings about the same amount - the thicker plain wire strings are more resistant to stretching to accommodate the increased tension, and hence go sharp. The thinner (core) adjacent wound strings stretch more and don't go as sharp. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Again, just my guess.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Not sure about your second question. I suspect it has something to do with bridge end effects - maybe it's kinda like a loose wet noodle out at the end compared to the middle of the long bridge and reacts more. 'Course, that's not even a guess - not sure what to call it.....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Darn good questions though.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">I know Ron Nossaman will have some pretty exacting thoughts on this....... Ron?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">Terry Farrell</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=dnereson@4dv.net href="mailto:dnereson@4dv.net">David Nereson</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, July 15, 2008 3:09 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> summer sharpness in low tenor</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">    Most pianos go quite sharp in the summer because of higher humidity, and the sharpness is most pronounced in the low tenor.  But what I've seen quite often is that the lowest plain wire strings will be really sharp, but the wound strings right next to them <EM>on the same bridge</EM> won't be anywhere near as sharp.  How does this happen?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">    Also, one would think that the <EM>middl</EM>e of the soundboard would experience the most swelling, which would in turn affect the mid-treble most, not the low tenor strings down there in the corner of the soundboard.  What gives?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Arial Narrow">    --David Nereson, RPT</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>