[pianotech] Beckets

[David Love]

Yeah, but if you did 1 1/2 turns you wouldn't have enough left to borrow
some when the string broke.  

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 2:13 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Beckets


While we're here, and have already paid the price to get here, 
I've always wondered why three turns is so sacred. Is it 
another case of the mysterious 7° pin angle syndrome - 
arbitrary conditioning from birth? Or is there some absolutely 
critical but as yet undetected reason for it? Who's got the 
stone tablets?

Having done enough "rob from one coil to feed the other" in 
all those old junk Kimballs where strings have broken at the 
point they leave the pin (why???), I'm not convinced that 
anything beyond 1-1/2 turns is necessary to function. I've 
used something in the vicinity of 2-3/4 turns forever. That 
puts the becket to the back, or bottom, of the pin where even 
the most critical tech has to lean over or down to detect my 
alignment failures. Make 'em work for it.

Incidentally, the tuning hammer position reasoning for becket 
alignment is interesting. My tips are 8 point, which at 45° 
hammer position increments, means I'm never more than 22.5° 
either side of my preferred hammer position. That's three 
minutes and 45 seconds on the analog clock face (digitals 
don't count). Statistically, I'll be about half that on half 
of the pins, wherever the becket is pointing. What a treat!

Ron N