Front Duplex

[Bdshull@AOL.COM]

Hi, Kevin:

How old is this piano?  Does it get some hard playing?   I think that 
work-hardening of the string at the "V" bar is responsible for most zinging 
(agraffe zinging may be different, like on the "L" I had today).  Killer 
octave V bar zinging is best fixed either by replacing strings or by 
re-positioning the string on the V bar - not sideways, but fore and aft by 
turning the tuning pins, as in Susan Kline's excellent Journal article a 
couple of years ago.  I discovered this many years ago when I did this on a 
"C" and the zings went away and the tone bloomed.  

I don't like messing with the V bar.  It has surface hardening, which 
reshaping may cut through;  any good derived is short-lived.  The problem is 
the string, which has gotten too hard at the V bar.

Bill Shull, RPT


In a message dated 3/5/02 5:37:41 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
ramsey@extremezone.com writes:

<< I have a question for the list.
 
     What exactly is the proper fix for the "singing of the Steinway Angels"
 in the front tuned duplex, that is, when they get a little too carried away?
     I had a customer today which was complaining about a kind of papery
 noise on a few notes in the killer octave (naturally) area of the keyboard.
 It was a Steinway M. It wasn't until it was tuned fully that the problem
 became apparent to me. By that time all the other stuff had been cleared up
 enough to hear. The front duplexes on some of the long waste end notes had a
 kind of zing to them.
     What I did to try to get rid of them was to level the strings really
 well while also lifting up on the duplex side of the capo bar to get a solid
 seating on both sides of it. When I got done there was still a little noise
 there, so I had to do some needling near the crown.
     Is what I did correct? Is there a better way? Am I missing something
 here? It worked this time. I really don't like the idea of muting the front
 duplex unless I have exhausted every other recourse first. Of course, I
 don't like having to deal with these kind of issues on a piano which the
 customer paid so much money for, either.
 
 
 
 Kevin E. Ramsey
 ramsey@extremezone.com >>