[CAUT] More on Single String Beats

[Willem Blees]

Ken

In St. Louis I had experience with 2 Sohmer grands that had bridge 
agraffs. To me both of them had a kind of hollow sound. Not that it 
was bad, per se, but it wasn't the sound I was used to. I have not 
heard the Stuart, but I would be curious if anyone has heard them, 
side by side.

Wim  

Quoting Ken Zahringer <ZahringerK at missouri.edu>:

> Hey, all,
> 
> I have been following this thread with a fair amount of interest, so
> now I
> think I¹ll be a little inflammatory :-)
> 
> There are obviously many factors that enter into the single string
> beat
> phenomenon, but I want to talk about one: the quality and solidity of
> the
> string/bridge connection.  It seems to me that discussing how to
> improve the
> string/bridge pin/bridge connection, is rather like discussing how to
> use
> grandpa¹s whittlin¹ knife to make action parts just like Renner¹s.  I
> wonder
> if we haven¹t taken this technology as far as it can go, if we might
> not
> need to be on another track entirely.
> 
> A few years ago I met an Australian pianist who told me about a piano
> he
> played back home, a Stuart & Sons.  Wayne Stuart uses a device he
> calls a
> ³bridge agraffe².  It¹s a piece that sits directly on the bridge top,
> and
> the string is deflected downward as it passes through, rather than
> sideways
> as with pins.  There are no pins driven into the bridge.  See a
> picture
> here: http://www.stuartandsons.com/sound.html
> 
> I talked to Ron Overs about this last summer at Rochester.  He seemed
> to
> think it was a good idea.  He also told me it is not patented, and in
> fact
> Sohmer used these devices many years ago.  I suppose it didn¹t catch
> on then
> because other manufacturers saw it as ³their² idea, not ³ours².  With
> modern
> manufacturing techniques, surely they would be less expensive than
> the
> labor-intensive process of drilling, notching, and pinning a bridge,
> and
> would seem to offer a better termination as well.  I have talked to a
> couple
> of people who have played a Stuart, and they both were very impressed
> with
> the clarity and sustain.
> 
> This looks like the kind of innovation we, as technicians and
> especially as
> rebuilders, ought to be promoting.  Also it looks like a good
> opportunity
> for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit.  Does anyone have any
> experience
> with these agraffes?  Is there a downside to them that I don¹t know
> about,
> other than inertia in ideas of how a piano is supposed to look?  They
> are
> certainly a fascinating idea, to me, anyway.
> 
> Regards,
> Ken Z.
> -- 
> Ken Zahringer, RPT
> University of Missouri
> School of Music
> 
> 


Willem Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technician
School of Music
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL USA
205-348-1469