strings out of tune, concluding thought

[Wimblees@aol.com]

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>From what I've been able to gather, it appears that the main culprit for a 
string going out of tune is the lack of equalization of the various segments of 
the string, especially, as Jim indicated, over the bridge. It also appears 
that pounding, as I do, is not necessarily the answer to stabilization. Please 
understand that I don't pound on every tuning. I do this on my first tuning, 
especially on a concert instrument, and have found it to be quite effective in 
that the piano is much more stable after that. However, even at that, there are 
still strings that go out a few cents, which is what my question is all about. 
Why does that happen?

The best I can conclude is that even with as much pounding as I do, and most 
of you have different versions of that, there are still going to be some 
equalization problems. Am I correct to assume that those problems are going to more 
prevalent in older instruments where the strings are a little more corroded, 
with notches, and rougher bridges, etc.? Or do newer instrument have the same 
problem?

If it is the former, then perhaps this answers a question I had several years 
ago when I asked, why restring the treble section of a piano? I think it was 
Fred who said that restringing gets rid of the buzzes and wild strings. But I 
think it is safe to assume now that restringing is going to do more than that. 
New strings will move over the bridge easier, and around all the pressure 
points. But along with the restringing, the bridges also will need attention. 
Maybe most of you already knew this, but I never paid much attention to the 
bridge, other than cleaning it. (Presuming, of course the bridges are intact.) It 
appears, based on Jim's assessment, that the bridge needs to be polished, and 
perhaps the pins replaced, to give the strings as much help rendering over the 
bridge as possible. 

Comments?

Wim
Willem Blees, RPT
Piano tuner/technician
School of Music
University of Alabama

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