<!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 5.50.4611.1300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    I've noticed = something on some newer pianos lately, and decided to ask the opinion of the sages on the = list. I've been encountering more and more pianos of late that seem to have a = real scaling problem in the low tenor section. Baldwin model 248 comes to = mind; ( the last note in the tenor is C# I believe), but where I really see it is in = the new Yamaha model GA1, and to a lesser extent in the GH1. What is happening = is that the designers of these pianos have put too many notes in the tenor that = belong in the bass. As you play chromatically down the scale, these notes start = sounding like "pong-pong-pong" and then you hit the bass, and they sound = normal again.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    I know that this is = caused by continuing to drop the tension on the strings in order to get the = fundamental down to the required frequency, but you reach a certain point, and you = get a tone that seems hollow and is very difficult to fit in with the rest of = the tuning.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    I've had some = partial success with carefully doping the hammers, and voicing the bass down, plus = leveling strings, straightening termination points etc., but not to any totally satisfactory result. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Got any good advise? = I'm all ears.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Or is it just poor design?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kevin E. Ramsey<BR><A href="mailto:ramsey@extremezone.com">ramsey@extremezone.com</A> </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>