<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19019"></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=role_body bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7><FONT id=role_document color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 3/18/2011 9:30:47 P.M. Central Daylight Time, davidlovepianos@comcast.net writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#1f497d size=2 face=Calibri>When you pluck the string you bypass that initial force of the hammer string contact and jump right to the sustain phase.  It can be misleading.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>A problem with the pluck test is that the vibrational physics of it are quite different from a struck string. One has to use it in its own context, and to hear what it is saying by practice. The pluck test is less reliable, in my experience, of the health of a soundboard, than a struck-string test, assuming proper regulation and hammers. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>P</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>