[CAUT] string level

[Fred Sturm]

On Apr 28, 2009, at 1:53 AM, Joe Goss wrote:

> The foot would be ruined.

in which case maybe you could just glue a magnet to the mother goose  
level.
Chris Solliday


	To clarify a bit about the design I posted: I like to have the actual  
bubble higher up for visibility. I posted an earlier design maybe two  
years ago that did that. It does require a little more mass on the  
bottom to keep from being wobbly, so it will sit solidly on the  
strings. That design took care of the problem of measuring strings  
next to struts, unless they are partly under the struts.
	I was trying to come up with a way of getting a level between dampers  
and the capo, where that gap is very narrow sometimes. That is a far  
better place to be measuring than behind the dampers, as it is much  
closer to strike point. So I tried a narrow piece of steel, but it  
didn't sit very well on the strings, and wanted to fall over. I  
couldn't get a good "pluck noise difference." Adding a magnet  
stabilized it, because it was attracted to the strings, and made for a  
good, positive difference in sound between contacting and non- 
contacting strings. The photo I posted a couple days ago was a  
preliminary model, and I need to get a thinner magnet and use thinner  
steel to get what I want. But I thought the idea of the magnet was  
definitely a keeper, so I posted it.
	And, yes, it would be possible to design a magnetic string level that  
would hang down from the bottom of the strings. That would make it  
possible to put it right at the strike point. But as I noted in my  
post responding to Ed Sutton, it doesn't seem like it would be very  
practical.
	I think Joe Goss' tool is a great one. But I'm not one to "leave well  
enough alone". Have to keep puttering and improving. Beats the heck  
out of working and making money <G>.
	BTW, if Joe or anyone else wants to make a level using a magnet and  
offer it for sale, he has my blessing. I'm not interested in that sort  
of business, myself. Can't be too strong a magnet, or it would pull  
the strings into line and give you a perfect reading every time, which  
would be slightly counterproductive.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut_ptg.org/attachments/20090428/fac41ebd/attachment.html>