Under the Hood

[ticktock19852004]

I am going to sound a bit nieve, but i'm going to ask the question anyways. The strip of metal that is at the top of the strings in an upright piano, just below the tunning pins; what is it called? What is its function? thanks!

[PianoGuy]

It's called the Pressure Bar, sometimes the Capo Bar, or Capo D'Astro. It keeps the strings firmly in contact with the top bridge and provides a bearing between the bridge and wrestpins.

Some pianos use individual agraffes to achieve the same thing, which has the additional advantage of providing string spacing and a more accurate speaking length within each tricord/bichord, as it allows the termination point of each string to be aligned with the carvings on the soundboard bridge.

[ticktock19852004]

ok, thank you very much!