<!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 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> </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">From: <A title=Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no href="mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no">Richard Brekne</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">To: <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Sent: June 08, 2003 9:07 = AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">Subject: Re: Rippen opinions, please!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>  Delwin D Fandrich wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE="CITE"> Andre has pretty well covered it. One = question, though--weren't the Rippen grands also flat-strung?  </BLOCKQUOTE>Do you mean straight strung = ?  grin.. sorry ... couldnt help myself.  Every time I see that = "flat strung" term... I get this vision of some guy out there banging away = at the string matial to flatten it before stringing the instrument. Cheers RIcB   </BLOCKQUOTE> No. I don't = mean straight strung. The term straight = strung as applied to the piano having all of its string = laid out in a more-or-less single plane has always bothered me. It implies that = the strings are straight. But straight relative to = what? Of course the strings are straight. Strings under tension are, by their = nature, straight. So that means all pianos are straight strung. We must look further to = figure out just what the straight in straight = strung refers to. Does straight = strung mean that the strings are perpendicular to the strike line? A bit of a = stretch on the word, that. And besides, very few flat = strung pianos have many of their strings oriented perpendicular to the = strikeline--in some there are none at all--so the term straight strung would have to leave out all those whose strings = deviate from that perpendicular-to-strikeline orientation. Or does the term straight strung mean that the strings are all = parallel to each other? Again, few flat strung pianos = have many of their strings laid parallel to each other--some have none at all. So, = the term straight strung would have to leave out = most flat strung pianos on that basis alone. = On the other = hand, the term flat strung clearly differentiates the string dispersement from its alternate, the = overstrung string dispersion. It makes reference to the fact that the strings are all in a = single, flat plane rather than sending some of the strings up and over some of = the other strings. Or should we = just use non-overstrung piano having all strings in a single, more-or-less-flat plane. Seems a bit cumbersome. I'll = stick with flat strung. Regards, Del</BODY></HTML>