In a message dated 11/30/01 6:56:23 AM, mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com writes: << I think you guys are talking about two different things: "playing the slot machine", is to be minimized, that is, bending the pin up and down, or flag-poling - >> Actually, that's exactly what I'm referring to. I bend the pin up. I bend the pin down. Actually I kind of relax the pin back into it's home. But I do it. I was taught it. Now, I don't brutalize the pin, even the word bend might be a bit strong, but there is a lift and a relaxation to it. Didn't you mention you do something of this sort in a previous post? What I feel it does is equalize the string tension on both sides of the pressure bar. Lift the pin and the string goes sharper than it ought to based on how far the pin moved (i.e., not much). Why? Because the string has rushed under the pressure bar. Why? Because there was more tension on the pin side of the string than on the speaking side. Relax the pin back down and the pitch goes back to where you want it to be, the pin is sitting comfortably in the cradle and your string will stay on pitch. You definitely have to leave the pin at the midway point (between the high side of the pin and the low) where the pin is comfortable and will not want to move. Force the pin down and it will want to come back up later. Leave it too high and it will want to drop back down. Same with the string tension. You have to pull just enough string under the tension bar so that the tension really IS equal on both sides when you relax the pin back down. (Boy, that's hard to put in words.) Anyway, that's what I do, and it seems to work for me. Since I haven't found this technique in textbooks and yet I've seen others do it too, I just wondered if it was; A) a universal approach, B) after thinking about it others might realize they do it too, or C) there are a few crazies out there and I'm one of them. (I think I can rule out A, B is up for grabs, and there was never any doubt about C.) Tom Sivak
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