S&S D Duplex

[Duplexdan@aol.com]

Paul,

Your report and querie about how to handle the duplex scale in the S&S D are 
most interesting to me and I think your experience in handling the duplex 
scale situation may be valuable to other technicians. So I would like to take 
a shot at some suggestions and comments that you may find useful.

First of all, I do not believe that the teflon additive has direct bearing on 
the tone of the piano.

Second, I find it odd that the braid was not used all the way up the scale. 
This suggests that the piano may have been restrung and the stringer elected 
to leave the braid out of the last two octaves. Another possibility is that a 
technician removed the braid from the last two octaves in an attempt to 
improve the tone.

The immediate response of your client to your having removed the braid is 
very important. Apparently the artist was impressed with the power that the 
unmuted duplex scale had on the tone of the piano. This attests to the 
potency of the duplex.
I daresay that the "cleaner" effect may be due to the fact that the duplex 
scale is indeed "in tune". However, the artist may not be able to distinguish 
power from purity as yet, and for this reason is asking for time to "get used 
to the sound".

If i may suggest a course of action i would say, remove all the braids and 
tune the duplex before attempting to install a new set of hammers. You can't 
go wrong if you tune the duplex, file and voice the hammers first. You could 
be making a big mistake if you change all the hammers and leave the duplex as 
it was.

In the past fifteen years a great deal of technology and experience by 
technicians worldwide has proven the value of tuning the duplex scale. I will 
be glad to provide any information I have and supply you with the tools to do 
the job, if you elect to go this route.    

Dan Franklin, RPT
Inventor of the Duplex Slider
US Patent 5,736,660
Email: Duplexdan@aol.com
Tel 212.677.5760