false beats from??

[Mike McCoy]

Interesting. I had a similar "false beat day" yesterday. First was a old 
Blasius upright that had apparently been restrung and pinned 2 years 
ago, false beats like you wouldn't believe and the pins are tight as 
hell, actually broke a tuning hammer tip last time I tuned it. Nothing 
worked on the beats, bridge looked great,  seating, pressing on the 
offending strings bridge pin with a screwdriver didn't show any 
improvement, slid strings to the side a bit to try a different v-bar 
termination, then finally rubbed the length of the strings with a brass 
rod and that helped ever so slightly, finally had to give up for now as 
appointments were backing up. Next was a 70's Yamaha console, I thought 
"thank God, something I can tune and feel good about" as my shoulder was 
getting sore, this was even worse, out with the action, same scenario, 
walked away not feeling good again though it did sound decent.

Some days you wonder...

Mike

Mike McCoy
Langhorne, Pa.

Ron Nossaman wrote:

>
>> Thanks for the update on bridge pins. What is the "real cause" if it 
>> is not
>> a loose bridge pin? And would you use CA glue Ron? Or?
>
>
> It's still almost always a loose bridge pin. If it must be addressed, 
> I'll use CA. For the most part, I work around it. I mention the 
> problem, the cause, and the most affordable treatment (CA) to the 
> owner, and let them decide if they want to pay for it. Most don't 
> notice it, or particularly care if they do (considering that it will 
> cost something to address), so I do what I can with what I have. I 
> ignore it and tune around it as well as I can. What I don't do any 
> more, is try to fool myself that I'm fixing anything by seating 
> strings and bridge pins, since I've come to realize that I was not 
> correcting the root cause, and was most likely doing further damage. 
> The fact is that the piano needs something it's not going to get, and 
> the equivalence of touching up the x-rays to deny the problem isn't 
> going to do either the doctor, or the patient any good in the long run.
>
> I realize there are impossible situations, like concert and studio 
> work, where SOMETHING must be done to clean up false beats. A concert 
> instrument has a very short life at a high performance level anyway, 
> so you do whatever you have to do to meet the performance requirements 
> at the expense of longevity, and try to correct the problem more 
> nearly permanently when the rebuild comes up on the wheel. Meanwhile, 
> I see no reason to abuse Mrs Jones' piano trying to disguise the 
> symptoms tuning after tuning while denying the reality. I understand 
> that most of the technical community disagrees, but that's the way I 
> see it.
>
> Ron N
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