[CAUT] Harpsichord strings breaking

[Fred Sturm]

Hi Bob,
	I happen to be placing an order to Hubbard just now, and looking in  
their catalogue, they say that 13.5" is the maximum length for  
c" (which I think translates to C5) in low tensile wire, 16" for high  
tensile, both at 440. So you might measure to see.
	About string breakage with messy coils, often if coils cross one  
another or the string crosses a bent down bit of becket wire  
(especially as in the ones without becket holes, where the end of the  
string is held in place by friction of having the coils wound over  
it), there will be breakage problems if this occurs just where the  
wire is leaving the tuning pin. Which is an execution problem, not a  
design problem. Depending on era, a Zuckermann is quite likely to  
have low tensile strings on becket-less tuning pins. In changing a  
string (or stringing), to avoid the described problem, bend up or  
break off the last bit of the end of the string before you get to the  
final coil around the pin, so the coils aren't crossing it any more.
	I guess I'd be surprised if even a very green kit builder put a  
bridge on far enough from where the plan template wanted it to cause  
this problem. I'd be much less surprised to see stringing style as  
the culprit.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu



On Sep 21, 2007, at 12:38 PM, ITUNEPIANO at aol.com wrote:

> A local church has a Zuckerman, Double Choir Harpsichord.  I don't  
> know if this was a kit or not, but the coils on the pins are not  
> very neat, so I suspect it's a kit.  When I tune it to A-440,  
> strings break.  I've currently tuned it to A-415 (one semi-tone  
> flat), but the music director isn't happy transposing everything.   
> I'm betting the bridge is in the wrong place, causing the string  
> tension to reach the breaking point at A-440.  I'd be interested in  
> any suggestions on a cost-effective fix.
>
> Bob Maret, RPT
> Piano Technician
>
>
>
> See what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.

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