for those on the fence about hearing protection..

[Ron Nossaman]

> I might not have as much experience as some of you who have been teching 
> longer.  So I reserve the right to change my mind.  At present, I have 
> also found that the oftener blows work better than the harder blows. 
>  And I think the more experience we have, the better we can predict 
> where the pin/string will be stable.  Thus, we are able to have more 
> stable tunings with less volume as we get better at feeling the 
> pin/string interaction.

I don't think the pin/string interaction is the problem. You 
can get all the stuff forward of the bridge stable with very 
little noise, if the string renders worth a hoot over the junk 
and through the V bar or agraffe. It's from the front bridge 
pin to the hitch that needs the noise to put it where it's 
going to stay, and a moderate volume blow a lot of times does 
that better than a small number of either hard or soft blows. 
It settles in better going either up, or down in pitch.


> Maybe it's just the way my body is put together, but if I pound hard, it 
> hurts.  

And pounding hard too often leaves you with strings creeping 
sharp when you quit, particularly when you're lowering pitch.

Ron N