High treble string breakage

[Wippen@aol.com]

Israel,

I'm inclined to agree with your assessment of metal fatigue as being the
cause of exessive string breakage on your Steinway M. That, and perhaps
hammers that have become too hard due to overplaying or lacquering(?).

If the piano was restrung shortly after it was purchased (warrenty work) and
it has not exhibited string breakage in the last five years I would think
that would rule out problems with the capo,unless part of the work on the
capo involved hardening? A capo that is harder than the strings could cause
string breakage. Do the strings break at the capo?

My guess is that the strings are approaching their elastic limit because of
hard playing and possibly hard hammers. Re-string the top section and voice
as needed.

Hope this helps.

Paul Dempsey
Marshall University
wippen@aol.com