The general meeting for this month will be at our regular meeting place on Tuesday May 8, 2001 starting at 8 PM at:

The First Church of Baldwin
(United Methodist)
881 Merrick Road
Baldwin, NY

The technical class at his month's meeting will be given by chapter member Michael Slavin. The topic will be hammer hanging, and the presentation is provocatively entitled "Invitation to a Hanging." See page 2 for info about our pre-summer party on June 12th!

Have you ever regulated a grand piano and the treble is still too dead sounding, even after the hammers are aligned, lacquered, and squared to the strings? I have found that the sound of treble strings can leak through the capo bar. The way to test this is by plucking the strings on the front side of the capo bar (non-speaking side). See if they ring out too much; that means they leak. I've seen previous tuners put felt or bushing cloth between the strings to try to get rid of extra sound so it would be easier to tune. A better solution is to get rid of the problem by pulling up on the strings on both sides of the capo bar. Be prepared to tune or double-tune the piano.

There were some Steinways built in the 80s that didn't have much bearing under the capo bar, and pulling the strings can't help the leaking problem. In this case, you can loosen all the treble strings, get a cast iron pipe, cut it length-wise in halves or quarters, depending on the size of the pipe, and fit it on the capo bar under the strings. It might not look too good, but it works.

Have a happy and profitable summer.