Better Bass Scale for M&H A

[Mike and Jane Spalding]

List,

I am rewhatevering a M&H A, scale #4, serial number in the 38000's, ca. 1929.  The bass string diameters seem unusual to me.  Several strings will have the same core AND winding diameter, then both will change, repeat for several strings, etc.  Tension curve and Inharmonicity curve have the same sawtooth shape you see in the solid wires, with tension steps of around 20%, some over 40%.  Warning:  This is the first bass scale I have analysed, and I'm using, for the first time, my spreadsheet with the "Calculating Technician" formulae.  So there is a possibility of some error or misunderstanding on my part (but I'm pretty good with a micrometer, and you can trust my diameter measurements).  A colleague has a similar vintage A in his shop, and the bass wire diameters are the same as mine.  Bass strings on both pianos appear to be original.

So, is this a bad scale, and can/should it be improved?  If yes and yes, there must be a lot of them out there, and somebody has (or several somebodies have) already  designed a better scale for this piano.  Reinventing the wheel can be educational and even fun, but not necessarily profitable.  Can anyone point me towards an existing good rescaling for this piano.  Note, moving/replacing the bridge to increase back scale length is not in the program this time around, so the string lengths will not be changed.

thanks,

Mike Spalding RPT