<HTML>In a message dated 12/7/2002 6:36:57 AM Pacific = Standard Time, sec@overspianos.com.au writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">.          Ron= </BLOCKQUOTE>    &nbs= p;            Your po= int about tuning stability is understood in these types of designs is unders= tood. The Mason AA( 6 ft 2 inch) are so rare I've only seen four in my life.= The early ones did have a seperate tenor bridge with I think bi-chord trich= ord combination. I personally didn't care for that sound as much as the one = I own now but they were probably on the right track. Tonally it's rare when = these designs work this well as far as the crossover from plain to the bi-ch= ord and from the bi - chord across the bass break so it's a pleasure to hear= when they do. This AA and the Stwy A's have similar designs that work as we= ll as any tonally.    As A rebuilder often working on existing designs that employ 20= note bass sections I've had two small successes at the bass cross over. I w= as reminded of it yeterday when I tuned a 60s Mason BB I restrung this year = for the local college. I've written this before but on the BB and the Stwy B= where the tension drops off so badly at the bass break I've added hitch pin= s to the plate and used 3 unisons wrapped tri-chords which brings the tensio= n up to about 145 lbs per string and improves the blend from plain to wrap t= hen cross the bass. It's an amazingly good transition. Usually trichords can= have falsness and tuning troubles but GC strings makes them very well and t= hus clean sounding. Were any modifications made to the Boesendorfer in this = area that would be of interest?? Was it plain wire or wrapped strings there?=      I can hear Del groaning about the tri-chords all th= e way from Portland and I usally dislike the use of them as well but so far = I think I must be the only guy on the planet who's willing to try this.(no D= el Probably has)  I know David Love heard a Stwy B I did and thought it= was a very good improvement. The overall effect on the music played is wond= erful as the sound of strings at 110 lbs ughh is gone and the coupled octves= when played thru the break is so much more....well musical and homogenous.<= BR>     The new 5-8 Mason has a couple bi-chords at the problem l= ocation Yes My point is that at least if the worlds Makers are going to continue thi= s design on longer instruments the use of really well made tri-chords in thi= s area would keep us from nashing our collective teeth.(some times) On the s= horter ones bi-chords are effective. Until then I'll fix them when I can.<BR= >     Thanks for the post and the measurement data.            Regards             Dale</FON= T> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT= : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> Regarding your point about the Mason 6' having a decent cross regardless of = the bichord covered scaling on the lower end of the treble bridge, I take yo= ur point. But crossover tone is perhaps more heavily influenced by the proxi= mity of the bridge ends to the rim, than by scaling factors. While poor scal= ing can contribute to a problem crossover, it is more likely to effect tune-= ability than cross over tone. A case in point is the Böendorfer 6'7". We'v= e just completed a rebuild of a 20 year old example and the cross over tone = is quite satisfactory, although the scale is a bit of a mess since it runs d= own to B27 on the long bridge with plain wire (like many other 200 cm pianos which shouldn't follow suit= ). I haven't really looke= d closely at the 6' Masons, though I saw a 7' piano at Reno. Ron O. -- </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>