+@code{staff symbol}. The staff symbol may be tuned in number,
+thickness and distance of lines, using properties. It may also
+be started and stopped at every point in the score.
+
+@itemize
+@item
+Changing the number of staff lines is done by overriding
+@code{line-count}. You may need to adjust the clef position
+and the position of the middle C to fit to the new staff. For
+an explanation, see the snippet section in @ref{Displaying pitches}.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,ragged-right,quote]
+\new Staff {
+ \override Staff.StaffSymbol #'line-count = #3
+ d d d d
+}
+@end lilypond
+
+@item
+The placement and amount of the staff lines can also set totally
+manually by defining their positions explicitly. The middle
+of the staff has the value of 0, each half staff space up and down
+adds an integer. The default values are 4 2 0 -2 -4. Bar lines
+are drawn according to the calculated width of the system, but
+they are always centered. As the
+example shows, the positions of the notes are not influenced
+by the position of the staff lines.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,ragged-right,quote]
+\new Staff \with {
+ \override StaffSymbol #' line-positions = #' ( 7 3 0 -4 -6 -7 )
+ }{
+ a e' f' b' d''
+}
+@end lilypond
+
+@item
+The staff line thickness can be set by overriding the @code{thickness}
+property. Note that it gets applied also to ledger lines and stems,
+since they depend on the staff line thickness. The argument of
+@code{thickness} is a factor of @code{line-thickness} which defaults
+to the normal staff line thickness.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,ragged-right,quote]
+\new Staff \with {
+ \override StaffSymbol #'thickness = #3
+ }{
+ d d d d
+}
+@end lilypond
+
+@item
+The thickness of the ledger lines can also be set independent of the
+settings for staff lines. The setting is calculated from a pair of
+values which will be added for the final thickness. The first value
+is the staff line thickness multiplied by a factor, the second is
+the staff space multiplied by a factor. In the example the ledger
+lines get their thickness from one staff line thickness plus 1/5
+staff space, so they are heavier than a normal staff line.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,ragged-right,quote]
+\new Staff \with {
+ \override StaffSymbol #' ledger-line-thickness = #' ( 1 . 0.2 ) }
+ {
+ d d d d
+}
+@end lilypond
+
+@item
+The distance of the stafflines can be changed with the
+@code{staff-space} property. Its argument is the amount
+of staff spaces that should be inserted between the lines.
+The default value is 1. Setting the distance has
+influence on the staff lines as well as on ledger lines.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,ragged-right,quote]
+\new Staff \with {
+ \override StaffSymbol #' staff-space = #1.5
+ }{
+ a b c' d'
+}
+@end lilypond
+
+@item
+The length of the staff line can also be adjusted
+manually. The unit is one staff space. Spacing
+of the objects inside the staff does not get influenced
+by this setting.
+
+@lilypond[verbatim,ragged-right,quote]
+\new Staff \with {
+ \override StaffSymbol #' width = #23
+ }{
+ a e' f' b' d''
+}
+@end lilypond