Humidity and Violanos
By Craig Brougher
I have noticed over the years that Violanos will stay in tune better when their light is left on and things are kept at a relatively constant temperature. Humidity changes in a room is also moderated somewhat by the higher (maybe 2 degrees max) temperature inside the case. Keeping another small 40 watt bulb on the bottom shelf in a green bean can, packed with fiberglass helps too, since the heat from the can rises, adds to the top bulb, and tends to prevent the detuning effects of a damp room, even though the temperature difference is very slight. No damage will result from these.
On the other hand, the temperature and humidity controllers in my opinion work until the "new" wears off, and then the work involved cleaning them up and de-scaling them, removing the mold and in general playing janitor every week gets a little "much." The simple way is the best.
In regard to broken Violano plates, The concentrated tension at the center of the Violano plate where it is also thinnest and weakest is what is actually responsible and where they all break. To prevent this from happening, the owner should check the tightness of the plate in the center with the pin plank it is clamped to. If he can slide a piece of paper between them, he should take all the tension off the strings and call a technician right away.
The plate bolts are rather small in my opinion and need to be (at least) re-tightened, but NOT while the tension is still on the plate. That is how they get broken. If the bolts are not threaded tightly and cannot be really snubbed down powerfully, fix it or the same thing is going to happen again and you may not be lucky enough that time to catch it.
Craig Brougher
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(Message sent Wed 5 Feb 1997, 15:38:01 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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