S&S D Duplex

[Tony Caught]

Hi Dan,

My interest in other instruments is only rudimentary at best. I was using
the electric guitar mainly because of the very visible positioning of the
pickup and the very noticeable difference in the sound amplified in the
pickups different positions.

There has been discussion on this list before about pianos, violins and
other strung instruments and one thing that has always stuck out in front of
everything else is that they are all completely different instruments. Prime
example is the violin. This instrument has no sustain worth mentioning, its
construction is totally different than a piano and it screeches. Personally
I like a piano to sound like a piano and you may be right, the addition of
the duplex system does seem to make the piano screech.  Maybe the guy who
developed it  likes the sound of violins. Horses for courses.

I can remember my first experience (some 25 years ago) whilst a piano tuner
was testing me to see if I was qualified to tune the Steinway D at a
prominent venue. He was tuning the treble and I asked him what he was doing
to do about the tzings in the upper treble?. He listened closely, then some
more and said 'yes that is a funny sound' I reached over and plucked the
tails of the note he was tuning and then he heard the three string tails all
on different pitches. he then said 'you have got a good ear, what say you
tune the piano then I will test it after.'

I have been looking after the piano ever since.

I do admit that tuning them makes the piano sound so much better but, I
truly believe that if a system had been developed that was a cross between
the Baldwin's adjustable hitch system and a duplex type system you would
have a much better, clearer and richer toned piano.

Talking to a piano salesman the other day he told me that most music
teachers today will recommend Yamaha pianos because they are a quality piano
that has a very nice tone. 25 years ago most of the music teachers preferred
the older pianos as the Yamaha's tone was too high pitched. A persons
musical taste is greatly influenced by what they are brought up with. It is
unfortunate that the tonal qualities have been overlooked by cost of
manufacturer and then attempts to cover the tonal loss of pianos by
introducing the added effects of the duplex system that never seems to be
tuned in the factory.

A Romanian soundboard factory sounds great, labour is cheap but the cost of
lumber is not. Problem is that cheap labour generally = cheap workmanship. I
learnt all about this in China, saw what the cultural revolution did to the
workers skills. About the same as what happened in Romania. set the factory
up, go broke, be taken over by another organization, wait ten to fifteen
years then ask me. I'll be 85 and maybe dumb enough to think about it then.

Regards

Tony Caught
Darwin Australia
caute@bigpond.com


----- Original Message -----
From: <Duplexdan@aol.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 2:50 PM
Subject: Re: S&S D Duplex


> Tony Caught,
>
> Your interest in the duplex scale is of special note to me because of your
> knowledge and experience with other stringed instruments. My own research
> revealed that CFT Steinway did study some amount of violin making in
addition
> to having a highly technical relationship with Hermann Helmholtz. This
> suggests that what he learned from the violin makers and HH led him to
> develop the idea of placing the duplex harmonic bridges in such a position
as
> to be divisions of the speaking length that are quantified into oliquot
> portions. When the duplex bridge changes its direction it is because the
> scale designer requres a different interval. You may be interested to
> purchase my book  THE DUPLEX SCALE FIELD MANUAL GUIDE,  which is a
compendium
> of the duplex scales found in the worlds' most popular pianos. $20.00
(over
> 15 years of research went into this volume)
>
> The point I feel you would like to address is that the sustain and quality
of
> a speaking length is enhanced when the fundamental of the non speaking
length
> produces a tone which is a low partial of the speaking length. This, in my
> experience is 100% true. Steinway said so in 1872, and I have ample reason
to
> recommend his opinion to you. So do hundreds of technicians who have taken
my
> seminars.
>
> The bottom line is, Tony, until you try it you won't buy it. But once you
try
> it, if you follow the original patent 126848, you will know the answer for
> yourself. If you would like a copy of CFT's patent and mine 5736660 I will
be
> delighted to include them in the shipment...add $5. @ plus postage. That's
> all.
>
> By the way I have an old classmate friend in Austrailia who I hope will
some
> day invite me there to play golf as well as invest in a Rumanian
soundboard
> factory. I'd love to come to Austrailia and tune some duplexes if I can
get
> some tee times. It would be an adventure to visit you to assist in your
> efforts to imporve piano tone, and at the same time visit my classmate
Henry
> Spira, in Sydney. The bonus would be if we can cook up a plan to
manufacture
> Rumanian spruce into soundboards. if this idea is too far "down under",
let's
> just deal with the duplex which is right up front and waiting to be tuned.
>
> The internet may finally have a worthwhile purpose for the PTG.
>
>
> Dan Franklin