Yow-yow-yowing bass strings

[Ron Nossaman]

>I need an accurate scientific explanation for why SOME single bass strings 
>go yow-yow-yow, when played by themselves.

Hi Bob,
I don't know. Sorry, I never made a specific attempt to find out why this 
happens. I've determined to my satisfaction what doesn't cause it though. 
Loose bridge pins, sloppy notches, and not being seated at either the 
bridge or agraffe isn't it this low in the scale.


>The Steinways are single-wrapped and the Bös is double-wrapped, but I also 
>listened to some 126 cm Bostons, which are double-wrapped, and they had 
>random wows too.

It would take time and money, but if I was looking, I'd start with the 
suspicion of lack of flexibility in the strings. I'd compare the scales of 
characteristically noisy bass sections with those that are 
characteristically cleaner, and look for cause and effect correlations. I'd 
generally expect a smaller diameter core with double wrap to sound better 
(and maybe even give you some fundamental - maybe) than a huge diameter 
core with single wrap. Length would figure in too. I haven't found this 
noise to be a problem in the pianos I've rescaled, but then I haven't 
specifically looked for it either, so I can't say for sure either way.

Not much help, but that's all I've got.

Ron N