The customer has no real complaints about the tone until it gets down to the monochords. Will dropping the core wire diameter on the mono's necessarily cause a bump at the bichord transition? Unfortunately, though this piano is fairly new, this kind of change probably can't be considered a warranty item so the customer may be out of pocket for it, though I haven't checked all warranty sources yet. David Love davidlovepianos at comcast.net -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Overs Pianos Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 3:21 PM To: Pianotech List Subject: Re: Thunky Steinway Monochords >What is the likelihood that the thunky sound of the low monochords on a >Steinway (B) will be improved significantly by simply rescaling those 8 >notes to thinner core wire and double wraps. And if I do that, what problem >might I create with the blending between the bichords and the monochords? I >have a customer who is complaining about the tone at that end (fairly new >piano). I have not yet seen the piano so I haven't checked the bearing at >that end which, I suppose, might also be a contributing factor. > >David Love >davidlovepianos at comcast.net Indeed, the downbearing would be an area to check. However, the bass scale can be significantly improved by revising the core/cover diameters. With an A1 speaking length of only 150 cm, the standard 1.6 diameter core wire is guaranteed to ensure that the bass will be all bark with little in the way of fundamental. The English eye will top off the stiffness picture to ensure that not much is happening. We re-scale the B's bass such that A1 has a 1.25 mm core with an outer wrap diameter of 6.0 mm. This will reduce the inharmonicity of the B's note A1 (I4) down to around 0.4 cents below the A1 inharmonicity of a standard model C. A looped German eye will improve the flexibility of the low a bass a little more. But you may need to design an increase in stiffness from A1 through to E8 , so that the transition to the first bichord doesn't hit you in the ear too much. By the way, there was talk on the list a couple of weeks ago about the merits or otherwise of double looping German eyes. I've done tests which indicate that there is a benefit to using the double loop. While both are adequately capable of withstanding string tension without undoing, the single looped eye has a tendency to tighten down on the hitch pin as string tension is applied. This makes getting the eye off the hitch very difficult should you wish to twist a bass string further. The double eye, when made using an appropriate technique, will not tighten down on the hitch, and can easily be removed if necessary. I suspect that the increased friction of the second loop reduces the tension on the string knot. This, it would seem, is why the double loop doesn't lock down onto the hitch. I think it makes the double loop worth the trouble. Ron O. -- OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY Grand Piano Manufacturers _______________________ Web http://overspianos.com.au mailto:ron at overspianos.com.au _______________________
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