Counter bearing treatment

[Ron Nossaman]

>I recently restrung a Baldwin R and instead of recovering
>the tenor counter-bearing with felt, I replaced it with a half
>round bearing bent to the curve. Tuning is this area is much
>easier and there seems to be no adverse sympathetic
>vibrations. I am considering this replacement on another
>popular brand with a wide felt area in this location.
>
>Aside from "tradition" and/or cosmetics is there a real reason
>for this application?

* You mean *with* the felt? Manufacturers are as cheap as anyone else and
probably wouldn't waste the felt on a counter bearing unless it was to
quiet it down. Another possibility is that the counter bearing was too ugly
to show, and it was cheaper to cover it with felt than to pretty it up.


>I think I read somewhere of the availability of hardened or rolled
>steel for this purpose. I just utilized a rod I had and fashioned a
>half-round suitable for the application.

* That is if you want the front duplex to speak. If you don't want it
making noise, brass is fine. On that other brand with the TAR, keeping the
duplex lengths as short as possible, and enough bearing angle off the V
should help it a lot.


>My experience has been that felt in this area creates a considerable
>amount of friction, whereas a steel counter-bearing creates less.
>
>What say you ,
>
>Jon Page,   piano technician

Absolutely.

Ron N