Counter bearing treatment

[Richard Brekne]

Del... this is of interest to me. I have this Grotrain that I have mentioned a
bit about and it is more or less configured as Jon  re-configured his Baldwin.
In addition in the treble section it has a non muted section between the brass
half round which passes over a section brass half round (about 3 inches long)
before going to the pins. The tenor is identical except that there is a thick
felt strip about a half inch wide for the strings to rest a bit on.. just enough
to mute them.

Problem is with this piano is that there is like tons of energy leakage through
the aggraffes and even across the first half round. Drives me nuts really, and I
have been considering using the wide felt rest common in Yamaha tenor sections..
and like what this Baldwin R had to quite it down. I have hedged tho as muting
these sections isnt neccessarily going to help the fact that there is so much
energy leakage.

Oddly enough... this G.S. has quite a bit of rendering problems as well.

Thoughts... suggestions ??

Richard Brekne
I.C.P.T.G.  N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway

Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jon Page <jonpage@mediaone.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: January 10, 2000 5:23 PM
> Subject: Counter bearing treatment
>
> > 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?
>
> No.  But, as you are finding out, there are several good reasons for making
> changes along the lines you are investigating.  Tuning -- especially over
> the long term -- will be improved.  Usually you will provide better string
> termination at the agraffe due to the slightly increased string angles.  You
> will be able to provide a better string angle relationship with the tuning
> pin.  Etc.
>
> > 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.
>
> This bar does not have to be hardened.  Indeed, it doesn't even have to be
> steel.  We typically use half-round or half-oval brass of an appropriate
> thickness.
>
> > My experience has been that felt in this area creates a considerable
> > amount of friction, whereas a steel counter-bearing creates less.
>
> Well, I certainly would not count removing some 15 to 30 mm of felted
> friction surface for the string to drag over as a disadvantage.
>
> Del