Do string covers affect tone?

[Joel A. Jones]

List
I also have not found a noticeable difference.  However, I believe the 
location
  of the piano in the room is an important factor.

While at UW-Madison I installed string covers made from discarded stage 
curtains .
In an effort to keep spills, pencils, and prolong our cleaning I found 
this solution
to be workable and inexpensive.

Students reacted that the sound was changed and made the pianos muted, 
etc.
We imposed a fine for removing the covers etc. but ultimately they were 
accepted.

My satisfaction came with a blind test involving the piano students who 
guessed
wrong 75% as to  when the cover was on or off.

The room in this case was a small practice room, whereas a larger area 
may
have produced different results.  But, as noted the cover can be 
removed whenever
your attitude needs gratified.

Joel


Joel Jones, RPT
Madison, WI

On Oct 10, 2005, at 11:54 AM, David Love wrote:

> I have not found a difference of any real significance unless, of 
> course,
> the felt is touching the strings.
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos@comcast.net
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Wally Scherer
> Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 9:49 AM
> To: pt
> Subject: Do string covers affect tone?
>
> When asked by customers if a string cover will affect
> the tone, I usually reply, "not significantly".
>
> However, I just ran across this post on the Piano
> World's forum, which I am sharing for informational
> purposes.
>
> Here it is:
> -----------------------------------------------------
> Yes it does change the sound. I have gone back and
> forth between using the cover and leaving it off.
>
> For me it changed the sound in an unexpected way. I
> knew that it would make the upper part of the scale
> more mellow but I didn't know it would have such a
> dramatic effect on the bass. After all, bass
> frequencies penetrate almost anything. With the cover
> on, my Walter seems to have a lot less punch in the
> bass. My theory about this is that higher harmonics
> are responsible for much of the perceived "attack" and
> percussiveness of the bass notes. The heavy wool
> flannel of the Edwards cover filters these higher
> frequency overtones to a significant degree and that
> changes the character of the bass notes.
>
> I like the cover and I make sure it is on when the
> humidity spikes up. Often I appreciate the attenuated
> high frequencies when my ears are tired. But when I
> really want to hear my instrument at its best,
> particularly the bass, I take the darn thing off. The
> bass won't growl on my piano with the cover on.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> Wallace T. Scherer, Piano Technician, Music Educator
> Piano Tuning & Repairs, Piano Lessons, Edwards String Covers
> P.O. Box 4121, Lantana, Florida, 33465
> Phone: 561-432-4121
> Web page: http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/afinetune
>
>
> 		
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