<!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 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000080 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=davidlovepianos@earthlink.net href="mailto:davidlovepianos@earthlink.net">David Love</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> September 20, 2002 7:24 = PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Hammers and = scale</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>That makes sense.  But let's take our = favorite whipping boy, the Steinway M.  As you know, when recalculating the scale, = one tends to come up with a needed increase in gauges above note 50, = pushing the tension up a bit all the way to the top (changes across the bass tenor = break are another issue which I don't want to get into at this point).  = If the Steinway board tends to be a lighter more flexible one, would you then = be cautious about increasing the tension up there for fear of overloading = a board that is not capable of dealing with that type of change?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>David Love</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080>Well, it's not an ideal world. The = Model M scale has a real dip in the middle of the top tenor section and is = generally lower than I would like to see it through the killer octave = region. I am always cautious about raising string tensions on an existing piano. In = this case I find the increase to be less bad than the alternative.</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080>Ideally, the soundboard should be = stiffened up some through the whole upper third of the scale--quite the opposite from = the effect achieved by diaphragming it. When putting new boards in these = pianos we do not thin them out along the treble edge. </FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>