[pianotech] agraffes

Ron Nossaman rnossaman at cox.net
Tue Aug 7 08:35:59 MDT 2012


On 8/6/2012 7:21 PM, jim at grandpianosolutions.com wrote:
> Thanks all.
>
> Let me ask the question slightly differently.  What is the advantage to
> using the narrow bi-chord spacing at all. Why not just go with the wide
> throughout?

How much wedge do you want to have to pull up through the strings to 
clear? A minimal amount, I'd think, with minimal time spent trimming 
wedges. That's why I use the space between the highest bass bichord 
strings with a narrow agraffe as my switch point to wide agraffes down 
scale. That highest bichord has the narrowest spacing I can get there, 
so that's my maximum width standard on the bass bridge. Resetting to 
about that width with the switch to wide agraffes keeps the *range* of 
spacing differences as narrow as possible within each bichord agraffe 
type, which appeals to my aesthetic sense of balance whether it carries 
significant technical weight or not, and gives me a simple standard 
rather than an arbitrary guess. It may not be necessary, but it's 
repeatable.

Does it really matter? Probably not, as there are plenty of other things 
to obsess over, and bichord string spacing on a transition bridge will 
be wider anyway as the strings will likely be smaller diameter, but I 
find it comforting and it's mindlessly easy and quick enough to do that 
I persist in my delusion.

Ron N


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