Seating strings

[Alan]

Just like our discussion on why pianos go flat over time, I find it
interesting that, once again, we are tossing around ideas, strong opinions,
anecdotal evidence, theories, and assumptions about a piano topic that is
very important to our profession and yet ...

...no one really knows.

Pianos have had wild strings for as long as we've had pianos (a longish
time); you'd think the research had been done and definitive answers
published, by now.

Alan R. Barnard
Salem, MO


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Gamble
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 2:53 PM
To: Ron Nossaman
Cc: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Re: Seating strings


Hello Ron (and List)
Your statement about false beats is a "must read" for all interested in 
tuning pianos. I concur with all you have said. It all makes profound sense.

I now eagerly await a "trial by fire". I have therefore put your obiter 
dictum on the List for all to read.
Kind regards
Michael G.(UK)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman@cox.net>
To: "Michael Gamble" <michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 12:46 PM
Subject: Re: Seating strings


>
>> Hello List and Ron who said: (inter alia)
>> Here's the mantra... Strings don't climb bridge pins, and seating 
>> neither pins, nor strings cures the cause of false beats. It just 
>> does further damage to the cap.  I must confess to tapping strings on 
>> the bridge to get rid of false beats. Most times it works. Rarely it 
>> doesn't. There has to be a reason for that. So.... what is the 
>> preferred method of getting rid of those false beats?
>> Regards
>> Michael G.(UK)
>
> How often do you do it? Every tuning? If you do it on a regular basis 
> with
> tuning, how long do you suppose that false beat you got rid of stayed 
> gone? Was it a year, a month, a week, a day, or at least long enough for 
> you to get out of the house? The cause typically is loose bridge pins. 
> When touching the side of the speaking side bridge pin of the false string

> (opposite the string) with a screwdriver stops the beat, that's it. 
> Seating the string often temporarily wedges the pin enough that it doesn't

> flagpole and cause the beat. Beat goes away. The tuner thinks he's fixed 
> it, but it comes back as the string goes back where it was and the loose 
> pin can again flagpole. The fix is to make the pin solid in the cap at the

> surface of the cap. CA or epoxy will do that, but it's not a casual field 
> repair. For the most part, the customers don't hear (or at least don't 
> mind) these noises. It's the tuners that are driven nuts by them. I 
> usually just ignore them and press on. At most, and not often, I'll press 
> down on a string just forward of the bridge pin with my thumb nail. I know

> it doesn't do anything good, but I haven't done any harm, and it sometimes

> makes a real screamer less bad temporarily. In my opinion, if the venue 
> requires a piano utterly free of false beats, then it warrants a thorough 
> job of repairing the cause, not a band aid seating of strings. The 
> important thing here is that seating strings isn't something that is 
> necessary to get the strings back down on the bridge, because they are 
> already down on the bridge. It's almost always the loose pin that causes 
> the false beat. Strings don't climb bridge pins.
>
> Ron N
>
> 


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