double-wound strings

[Stephen Airy]

--- John Delacour <JD@Pianomaker.co.uk> wrote:
> At 9:12 AM -0800 12/10/01, Stephen Airy wrote:
> 
> >  > As it is, you probably have on note A1 a No. 25
> core
> >  > with a 200 - 210
> 
> 
> 
> >I'm not sure what mine is, but it sounds fairly
> good
> >to me.  (It's quite a lot better than my mom's
> 5-foot
> >premie(sp?) baby grand and way better than some
> >friends' spinets, but not quite as nice as a 9-foot
> >baby grand.
> >
> >It's "Ricca & Son" - New York.
> >
> >My monochords are all double-covered.  Oh, by the
> way,
> >it's a 56" upright.
> 
> Well, that gives it plenty of scope!  An upright of
> that height will 
> always be better than a 5'grand in theory.  I have a
> 4'4" upright 
> 'super-overstrung' with a bass scale longer than a
> Steinway 6'11" 
> Model B with the bass bridge suspended on a great
> apron right in the 
> bottom right corner.

What upright do you have?

Also, do you know what the scale is on the Baldwin
6000?  I'm curious to see what notes are on the bass
bridge, what notes are single string, double string,
etc...

Btw, I like old uprights.  If I was buying myself a
piano, then I would probably prefer an upright at
least 48" tall, unless I was getting a grand longer
than 7 foot.

> 
> The upright overstrung design is not half as
> restrictive as the grand 
> design when it comes to the bass bridge,
> back-lengths etc.
> 
> >
> >>  I would prefer the break at 12 or 13 on these
> >>  pianos in order
> >>  to get a better transition.  Very old pianos
> with
> >>  the transition too
> >>  low very often have a disproportionately rough
> sort
> >>  of trombone
> >>  quality about the lowest bichords.
> >>
> >
> >My piano has some room for improvement in the tone
> >from F1 to G#1, around where the break is (F1 & F#1
> >being monochords and G1 and G#1 being bichords),
> and
> >other spots as well.
> 
> If the tone is inconsistent, apart from just an
> audible break, then 
> almost certainly it needs a new bass set.  In
> certain environments, 
> strings slowly deteriorate without actually rattling
> or becoming 
> plain tubby.  Most makers used an iron undercover in
> the old days and 
> often this rusts and makes all the d/c string tubby
> while leaving the 
> rest more or less intact.
> 

I've twisted all my bass strings, and many of my
double-covered strings sound fairly nice, although
there are still a few somewhat tubby ones.

> JD
> 


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