<!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 6.00.2800.1126" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Follow-up to my last post. I just re-read yours = and noticed you said it was a NEW STEINWAY.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Wow. I'd make sure they are well seated on the = bridge and lifted against the agraffs and that bridge pins are tight and (gasp!) = properly notched. I'd try another turn or half turn on the strings. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>And if that all failed, here's the $50 question: = Do piano makers and dealers have an obligation to deliver beatless strings on all = 88 notes, or are we supposed to "accept" some noise. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>As this is a Steinway and we are talking about = nice, long, new bass strings I would be VERY unhappy as a customer if I were = told I had to just "accept" yowling strings!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Alan</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Salem</FONT></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=tune4u@earthlink.net href="mailto:tune4u@earthlink.net">tune4u@earthlink.net</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, January 20, 2003 = 4:41 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Yow-yow-yowing = bass strings</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <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></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></FONT></BODY></= HTML>