false beats from??

[Overs Pianos]

Hi all,

>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.

Loose pins are one of the major causes of false beats, although there 
are others.

>   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.

Both 'facts' taken together in the correct order will give results. 
Firstly the diagnosis of a problem via a mass stabilising device, 
then the application of CA - but only where the gap is small enough 
between the pin and the bridge pin hole that it will be capable of 
being filled to remove the pin movement. CA helps if the screwdriver 
test indicates that the pins are the cause of the problem - and they 
mostly are. If you haven't found the screwdriver test works, you're 
probably testing with a screwdriver which is too light and small. If 
the screwdriver (mass loading device) isn't sufficiently massive, the 
hysteresis loss of your hand will upset the test result.

>   There is no real science behind any of this... nothing to show for 
>sure whats happening.

There are instances where it isn't necessary to research a factor 
exhaustively to prove it. Experience can teach us a great deal if we 
allow it to. If everything we discovered required an exhaustive test 
before giving it any credibility, we wouldn't do much else in our 
lives but conduct scientific tests. Furthermore, most testing occurs 
following the discoverer's realisation of a concept before an 
experiment for proof is undertaken. It would be nice to test 
everything, but for many things we do in life there simply isn't 
time. Often we have to just come to an understanding of a problem, 
work out a fix and get on with it.

>   Heck for all we really know there may be some entirely unthought 
>of cause/effect relationship at work here.

This is always a possibility. But it is also very often one of the 
usual suspects. We should always take on board what we think we know, 
while remaining skeptical and open to a new and better understanding.

>In short... I dont think I buy the loose pin explaination at all.

I suspect that you haven't applied CA to a piano which displayed 
falseness due to loose bridge pins - following a heavy screw-driver 
test. We've used CA numerous times and it significantly reduces 
falseness and cleans up tonal quality at the same time.

I agree with Ron N that there are a good many instruments out there 
which are getting their strings buried into the bridge cap for no 
lasting benefit. We've used and continue to use CA tightening of 
bridge pins. If my ears continue to tell me that it works, it works.

Ron O.
-- 
OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY
    Grand Piano Manufacturers
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Web http://overspianos.com.au
mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au
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