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<DIV>Del,</DIV>
<DIV>I’ve asked this question of other scale designers and seem to get the same
vague answer. The question “high, medium and low” would seem to refer to the
percent of tension to breaking point of the wire .Certainly a given wire with a
tension at 150 lb. would not address the “high, medium or low” tension question
unless one knows the diameter and length of the wire. As you implied, the tonal
characteristics change with the tension. Could I assume you are referring to the
percent of breaking point, or are you referring to the total tonnage on the
piano? Can you clarify?</DIV>
<DIV>Roger</DIV>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=del@fandrichpiano.com
href="mailto:del@fandrichpiano.com">Delwin D Fandrich</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 22, 2012 10:53 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [pianotech] High tension, low
tension?</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">1) Unless you
know the design you have to measure. There is obviously no clear line here.
Generally I consider a piano with scaling tensions below 160 lbf (72.5 kgf)
through the tenor section to be low-tension scales. Those with scaling tensions
above 180 lbf (81.5 kgf) are high-tension scales. Many existing piano scales are
more-or-less in the middle and many are a mix of both.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">In addition
to knowing if a given scale has high or low tensions, it is useful to know how a
scale gets those tensions. That is, does it have long and thin strings or short
and thick strings? Each will have a different tone
characteristic.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">2) In the
best of all worlds each different scale type would be matched to a different
soundboard and rib scale and the piano would use hammers selected to match the
scaling and the soundboard design. To look at just the extremes, a piano with a
long low-tension scale will work best with a light, relatively flexible
soundboard and light, resilient hammers. A piano with a short high-tension scale
will work best with a heavier, relatively stiffer soundboard assembly and
denser, more massive hammers.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">ddf<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">(Just a short
plug for the upcoming PTG Convention—I’ll be presenting an all-day seminar on
this topic including demonstrations of various scale types on my string test
fixture. —ddf)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Delwin D
Fandrich</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Piano
Design & Fabrication</SPAN><SPAN
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">6939
Foothill Court SW, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Olympia,
Washington 98512 USA<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Phone
360.515.0119 — Cell 360.388.6525</SPAN><SPAN
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><A
href="mailto:del@fandrichpiano.com">mailto:del@fandrichpiano.com</A></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">—
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; COLOR: #632423; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><A
href="mailto:ddfandrich@gmail.com">ddfandrich@gmail.com</A></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: navy; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
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<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt" class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>lim hock seng<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 22, 2012 8:34
PM<BR><B>To:</B> pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> [pianotech] High tension,
low tension?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt">Hi list,<BR>1. How do we know whether a piano has
high or low tension scaling?<BR>2. Do we voiced differently for these
scalings?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-LEFT: 36pt">Bless<BR>Lim<o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>