Pinning and Tone

[fssturm@unm.edu]

Quoting Ed Sutton <ed440@mindspring.com>:

> Jim-
snip
> 1- A few years back David Stanwood was using hammer flanges with
> adjustable
> friction to control touchweight. The flange had two tiny set screws
> above the
> center pin which could be adjusted to change the friction.  This
> would allow for a
> number of experiments without even removing the flange from the
> rail.
> 
snip

   I'll just suggest here that use of the Stanwood flange might not quite be the 
same as re-pinning. In re-pinning, there is also a question of firmness in the 
interface between pin, felt and wood - where one is affecting the dimension of 
the felt (and largely by compression more than by removal of material, if one is 
doing what should normally be done) - more or less evenly around the whole 
circumference of the pin. I _think_ there might well be a difference. The set 
screws (I remember only one set screw, but could be mistaken) operate from 
only one direction (each). They could well increase friction, but allow 
"sloppiness" in other directions.
   Friction per se would most likely affect only the dwell time of the hammer on 
the string. Firmness in isolation would have its greatest effect on the wobble (or 
lack of same) of the shank during the stroke and rebound, and hence on what 
the hammer is doing while in contact. I am picturing those high speed films, 
showing all kinds of vibration and flopping around of shank and hammer.
   As several have mentioned already, this is the sort of thing that is next to 
impossible to test with reliable experiments. Maybe we're best to rely on what 
our experience has at least seemed to demonstrate, together with our mental 
picture of why (though often the two are hard to reconcile).
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico