Pianotech

Roger, I'm enjoying your whodunnit to find the truth about false beats. It seems to me that there are still many variables on both sides of the equation. I'm not sure that we're at the 'beyond reasonable doubt' stage.

There are many tools available for dressing the wires. Rick Baldassin devised a string hook, I don't know if it's still available and has given seminars on the topic, I recall he paid a lot of attention to the area between the speaking length and tuning pins. Certainly when one draws the wire through agraffes or through a V-bar there is a tendency for the wire to curl upwards.

I'm wondering if you found the work of Bill Kibby-Johnson in England. He's done quite a bit of research much along the same lines as yours. In his investigation of open ended wires, he used much thicker wire along the lines of coat hanger wire, he even provides an animation of the string's orbital paths. The most intriguing part for me is he asserts that the false beat rate is predictable, about 1% of the frequency of the string, based upon his observations. You can read his piece and explanation here. 

It's worth perusing his site, it's something of a virtual museum.