<!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 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Hi Alan,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>when designing a scale for a piano one has been told that you try = to get an even tension across the scale. Unfortunately because of other factors in = the modern piano the tension has been increased to a point that if you tried = to use a thinner longer string in the upper treble it would be very close to = breaking point of that gauge and would most certainly have lost its required = elasticity to produce good tone.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In the older pianos, late 1800's and earlier what you describe was = common place.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Regards</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tony Caught<BR><A href="mailto:caute@optusnet.com.au">caute@optusnet.com.au</A><BR></DIV>= <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 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=mathstar@salemnet.com = href="mailto:mathstar@salemnet.com">Alan R. Barnard</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> Monday, September 16, = 2002 4:56 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Upright and Grand = rims, was: Impressive Steinway Upright</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Why does the high treble scale = not have slightly thinner, somewhat longer strings? It seems to me that = the short speaking lengths would contribute to lack of sustain, excess hammer sound vs. musical tone, difficulty in tuning etc.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If breakability is a principal = reason, could not the action be modified at that end with more let-off or = such.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am fully aware that this question = probably is naive, based on my limited experience, so I brace myself for incoming ...</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Alan Barnard</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px"><BR> </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>