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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Ah, you were so close to naming it. =
It's called
longitudinal inharmonicity, When strings vibrate, they don't just go up =
and
down, as sketches of string motion are drawn. They move in all =
directions, very
complex. Simply put, the strings in question are some combination of =
damaged,
poorly made, dirty, corroded, stretched out, or just old. The motion in =
one or
more directions is hampered in some way so the string harmonics are =
"fighting"
each other, i.e., not matching up, going out of phase.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>The possibilities can think of for the =
Bösendorfer
strings sounding cleaner would be: Are they newer? Are they premium =
quality
strings? Have they been treated better, over time--kept in tune, etc? =
And do the
string termination and bridge designs of the Bösendorfer make a =
difference (no
experience on this one--precious few Bösendorfers here in the
Ozarks)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>If every customer were bothered by =
single string
wah-wahs and were willing to pay to replace them, we'd all be very, very =
wealthy
people!, methinks!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Alan Barnard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Salem, MO</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=4>----- Original Message =
-----
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><FONT
size=4><B>From:</B> </FONT><A title=BobDavis88@aol.com
href="mailto:BobDavis88@aol.com"><FONT
size=4>BobDavis88@aol.com</FONT></A><FONT size=4> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=4><B>To:</B> </FONT><A
title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"><FONT
size=4>pianotech@ptg.org</FONT></A><FONT size=4> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=4><B>Sent:</B> Monday, =
January 20,
2003 4:20 PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT size=4><B>Subject:</B> =
Yow-yow-yowing bass
strings</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT =
face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0
face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><FONT =
size=4>Friends,<BR><BR>Hep!
Hep! (Okay, I grew up in Texas)<BR><BR>I need an accurate
scientific explanation for why SOME single bass strings go =
yow-yow-yow, when
played by themselves.<BR><BR>A new customer I am about to go see, with =
a new
Steinway B, said he wanted me to maybe replace some bass strings that =
were
"wobbling." I thought, okay, unisons or voicing, but then he said they =
were
singles. I realized I had accepted that sound for decades, and just =
tuned
around it, considering it a shortcoming of shorter scales. Later that =
day, I
listened to 5 B's, 4 L's, and a D, as well as a 7'4" =
Boesendorfer.<BR><BR>All
the Steinways had yowing singles, but not necessarily on the same =
notes. Some
notes would be clear. The D was the best of the Steinways, reasonably =
clear,
and the Bösendorfer was extremely clean.<BR><BR>The Steinways are
single-wrapped and the Bös is double-wrapped, but I also listened to =
some 126
cm Bostons, which are double-wrapped, and they had random wows
too.<BR><BR>I've always chalked it up to "inharmonicity" or =
longitudinal waves
or something like that, but I realized that doesn't really work, and =
now it's
driving me crazy not to be able accurately to explain this. What is =
happening,
and why is the Bösendorfer so clean?<BR><BR>Wobbling in Stockton =
CA,<BR>Bob
Davis<BR><BR><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>