>Since you seem to have the info easily at your disposal, could you please >give me the names and dates of at least a few of these threads, such as the >one from which the clip below came from? When I tried using the search in >the archives I got very little. I'm search impaired. Start with "string seating". The one I posted from was April 11, 2001. >The implication of your line of thought, which, for the most part, I agree >with, is that even a correctly set up (downbearing-wise) piano in a >temperate climate with x amount of humidity variation will soon exhibit >some degree of negative front "termination", the cause of which tapping >will not cure. It seems to me that, if you discount, for the moment, any >distorting interaction between the string and the flat spot formed on the >pin, then, from a termination point of view, you have negative front >bearing. Yes, and no. Discounting any pin damage. >The string energy, or some portion of it, is going into the pin. >Some residual energy will be absorbed/reflected by the wood. What changes >between this scenario and one in which the negative condition is more >pronounced would be the alteration of loading forces on the bridge/board. >So, your tendency, in a negative front condition would seem to be to let >the string seek its own point of vertical termination stability, or, that >defined by the point where the string does contact the bridge proper, but >which then allows some vertical displacement at the pin when it (the >string) is vibrating. You can correct me, whether I'm wrong or right. I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here. It's not the local negative bearing at the pin that is causing the false beat that attracts string tappers. It's the fact that the string isn't touching the bridge cap at the pin, but further back on the bridge cap, allowing the pin to flagpole. Springing the string down (tapping) to seat the string on the bridge edge doesn't fix the problem, because it will soon be back where it was. > Can >you describe a situation where the crushing of the bridge surface, >especially at the termination, could be eliminated? How might a less >resilient material affect the tone, or life of the string? > >David Skolnik Sure, bridge agraffes or a non-hygroscopic bridge cap composite. It may sound a little different, but modern pianos have been sounding progressively different for a long time now, so that may be a very good thing. I wouldn't expect string life to suffer from a well designed alternative. Just keeping humidity swings as narrow as possible will help preserve a bridge of conventional construction. Most of the string tapping I used to do, and most of the wild strings I hear now, happen in pianos trapped in buildings with lousy humidity control. Ron N
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