String breakage

[Fred S. Sturm]

    Mary, Eric and Vince are right on the money. I'll add a couple thoughts.
1) I think a major factor in string breakage is tuning: frequency and technique.
The number of blows we give every single string is quite staggering,
particularly in the high treble. If, coupled with that, we use brutal test
blows, breakage will increase correspondingly. Not much we can do about
frequency of tuning, but we can try to minimize the string trauma caused by test
blows through use of tuning pin manipulation to achieve stability. (I'm not
saying that sharp blows aren't needed to achieve stability. They are. But we can
moderate it, to the benefit of the piano and longevity of our bodies).
2) String levelling can definitely contribute to string breakage at the
capo/agraffe. I'm a great believer in string levelling, but again, we need to be
careful and not overpull . It's easy to do: get one string a little too high,
and then try to get the others to match. How would I know?
    All that said, it sure makes a big difference who is playing the piano. I've
watched as particular students migrate from one favored practice room to
another, leaving wreckage behind. And have watched as the arrival of a new piano
faculty member has somehow coincided with a remarkable increase in breakage. Age
of strings seems to have very little to do with it (within limits). I've got
five or six B's from the mid 60's that have never seen a replaced string. And
others from the same purchase that have seen multiple restring.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico

"Vincent E. Mrykalo" wrote:

> Lance,
> It really depends on who is regularly playing the piano (if its in a
> studio).  There is one prof. who after 4 years, needed to have the
> capo section restrung because of breakage.  OTOH, another's has been
> doing well for ten years.  So I'd expect that in the concert hall,
> you would just have to judge that when they start breaking, you
> should plan to do at least the capo section sometime during the year.
> Once they start breaking, really no amount of shaping/voicing is
> going to help much.  So the key is probably keeping them shaped and
> voiced before strings start to break to get the longest life out of
> the strings.
>
> >Hi,
> >I'd like some feedback on everyone's experience with piano wire life/string
> >breakage and the need to restring pianos.  I have a University with several
> >Steinway and a few Baldwin D's and B's and they are breaking strings in the
> >treble.  I actually occasionally break them myself when tuning and broke one
> >once when I was string voicing/leveling.  They break at the V-bar. Many of
> >these pianos are only 7-15 years old.  I used to think it was from worn
> >hammers hitting the wire too close to the bar, but even after filing, they
> >are breaking.  Breakage is over more than one wire gauge.  These pianos get
> >heavy but probably not unusual University use.  Thanks in advance.
> >Questions:
> >-Does the wire get weakened at the V-bar over time?
> >-Is it expedited when the hammers aren't filed regularly?
> >-How often should a University teaching piano need restringing?
> >-Should they be always completely restrung or just areas where they are
> >breaking?  Same pins in a partly restrung area?
> >
> >Lance Lafargue, RPT
> >Mandeville, LA
> >New Orleans Chapter, PTG
> >lancelafargue@bellsouth.net
> >985.72P.IANO
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>
> --
> Vince Mrykalo RPT MPT
> Senior Piano Technician
> Crane School of Music
> _______________________________________________
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