Hi Mike. I have to admit I am beginning to question the whole <<understanding>> of false beats that has been circulating the past few years, ie attributing false beats to loose pins. To begin with... there are simply to many exceptions to the rule and yours is just another of many such stories. Secondly... its all seemingly based on the fact that in some situations we can let some CA glue, lacquer, or other such substance soak into the bridge pin holes and it helps. Or that we notice that also in some instances you can add some mass and/or tension to the pin via a screwdriver or some other device and that helps... sometimes. There is no real science behind any of this... nothing to show for sure whats happening. Heck for all we really know there may be some entirely unthought of cause/effect relationship at work here. The coupling devices made available a year or so back should point in other directions as well. To many times you can eliminate this <<cause>> without eliminating the effect. In short... I dont think I buy the loose pin explaination at all. Perhaps it is just one of several potential supporting events at best. Cheers RicB ------------ Mike writes: 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
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