false beats from ?? -...

[A440A@aol.com]

Greetings all, 

          I didn't think about false beats, anymore.   Early on, I took them 
on everywhere I found them.  That was not a feasible approach, since there 
were so many that didnt' seem to have anything to do with the string or pin/capo, 
etc.  So, I gradually learned to fudge the other strings in the unison enough 
to make a decent note.  
     Then I began to look for the easiest, most effective (in a 
time/effort/cost sense) thing I could do.  I had been wavering between ignoring them and 
becoming obsessed with them, (think Elmer Fudd and a rabbit).  In a weekly 
tuning schedule, what could I do that would eliminate the most beats for the least 
effort?  I began with the easiest thing first, and never found anything 
better. 
   As I tune a grand, the first thing I do upon encountering a false beating 
string is to take the end of the tuning tip and gently massage one pass across 
the back string, coming up the string, opposite to the distal bridge pin so 
that I am basically pressing the string into pin and bridge with about equal 
force.  Then I lift the tuning hammer over the bridge and again, lightly press 
the speaking length into the pin and bridge as I rub once over the string's 
first couple of inches while bringing the hammer back to the tuning pin. 
      The operative word here is lightly, there is little difference in 
results whether I press lightly, or double that force.  From the tuning posture, 
for those that want to incorporate this,  the full extension of your arm 
jeopardizes the rotator cuff if a lot of muscle is applied, so go lightly and see 
what level of push makes things happen,  You may get instant returns on the 
effort.  
     The notes generally go flat, and I wondered if the steel on steel 
friction  was changing the pitch,  rather than the straightening of the wire's 
curvature by the pin.  After waiting 20 minutes, the note was still flat, so I 
don't think the end of the tuning tip is heating things up much.  
      Anyhow, it only takes about 6 seconds to settle the string, this way, 
so it is a cheap move that yields great results often enough so that it is my 
first shot when a note just doesn't want to be still.  Then, depending on 
venue, I ignore or obsess. 
Regards, 

Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html