dead end (from upper bridge to tuning pin).

When placing the hammer on the tuning pin and turning to the right, it
is evident that the increased tension will be manifest first in the
upper dead end. In pianos having agraffes or upper bridges with a
tightly screwed bearing bar which makes the strings draw very hard
through the bridge, some considerable tension may be produced in the
upper dead end before the string will draw through the bridge and
increase the tension in the vibrating middle. In other pianos the
strings "render" very easily over the upper bridge, and the slightest
turn of the hammer manifests an alteration of pitch in the vibrating
section. As a rule, strings "render" much more easily through the
upper, than the lower bridge. There are two reasons for this: One is,
that the construction of the lower bridge is such as to cause a
tendency in this direction, having two bridge-pins which stand out of
line with the string and bear against it in opposite directions; the
other is that the lower bridge is so much farther from the point where
the hammer strikes the string that its vibration does not help it
through as it does at the upper bridge.

Now, the thing desired is to have the tension equally distributed over
the entire length of the string. Tension should be the same in the
three different sections. This is of paramount importance. If this
condition does not obtain, the piano will not stand in tune. Yet, this
is not the only item of importance. The tuning pin must be properly
"set," as tuners term it.

By "setting the pins," we mean, leaving it so balanced with respect to
the pull of the string that it will neither yield to the pull of the
string nor tend to draw it tighter. Coming now to the exact