String termination question

[annie at allthingspiano.com]

Isn't it to get maximum energy transfer from the strings to the soundboard
via the bridge?  That doesn't happen at the other end, so it's just a
matter of bouncing the wave back the way it came, and termination in one
plane is enough to do that.  (Or something like that?)

Annie Grieshop

> Greetings All --
>
> I made the mistake of thinking the other day, and I started wondering why
> piano strings are terminated at the bridge on both the X and Y axis but at
> the capo bar, or agraffe, on only the X, (or perhaps that's Y depending on
> how you are looking at it), axis. We go to lengths to make sure the
> strings
> are seated properly at the bridge so that there is a definite and precise
> termination in both planes at the bridge and bridge pin. Why then is the
> lack of termination in both planes not a problem at the agraffe and capo
> bar
> end?
>
> -- Geoff Sykes, Los Angeles
>