A whole new world - String Scales

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Frank Weston wrote:
> 
> Dear List,
> 
> I am restringing a 1922 Steinway M.  The unwound strings are too
> corroded/old/stretched to mike with any accuracy, and there is no
> notation on the bridges or plate.  Can someone provide a scale, and/or
> recommend a Windows scaling program that I might purchase?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Frank Weston


Frank,

With respect to Horace Greely, I must disagree with him on this one. The
original quality of the piano has very little to do with design
integrity of the stringing scale. When these old scales were worked out,
almost nothing was known about the math of piano stringing scales. Nor,
it seems, was it considered to be all that important. This is just one
area where much progress should have been made in the past eight or nine
decades.

There is much that can be improved on the Steinway M stringing scale,
and not just in the bass. 

There are several computer programs around now that can quickly do the
math for you if you know the results you're after. I wrote and use my
own and I've not looked at or evaluated any of the commercial programs
are available but I'm sure others have. Keep watching the list. And, no,
mine is not for sale--it's really more set up for new scales, anyway.
Also, check the Journal. 

One word of caution. Even with the best computer program, not all string
scales are going to be created equal. (GIGO!) You're still going to need
some basic knowledge of string scale design principles to work up with a
good scale. It also helps to have some experience doing this sort of
thing. Or a mentor. Sometimes a scale can pretty look good on paper but
not work all that well on the piano. It's nice to be able to predict
that while the scale is still on paper and not on the piano. Practice
safe & sane scaling.

If you don't feel comfortable rescaling a Steinway first time out, there
are several people around (including myself) that do this work, but
usually there is a charge--it does take some time to work up a good
scale. 

Anyway, if you've not yet heard a piano like this that has a really good
new scale on it, you're in for a real treat.

ddf