High treble string breakage

[Don_Mannino@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com]

Israel Stein Wrote:

>>It is a Steinway M, 10 years old, and is in constant use by a very busy
up-and-coming concert pianist and teacher (she had to buy another piano so that
her family could play too). Over the past half-year or so strings in the top 2
octaves have been breaking on a regular basis.<<

>>The complicating factor is that according to the dealer, the piano had a
string breakage problem when it was brand new. The capo bar was filed under
warranty because of this excessive string breakage.<<

Isreal,

Perhaps those well versed in metallurgy could comment, but I know of no way to
miss-shape a capo bar in order to make strings break.  Even if the strings dig
into a sharp capo, the nature of the termination doesn't change enough to add
stress and break strings.  The fact that Steinway went along with a capo bar
re-shaping doesn't mean it was actually required - manufacturer's sometimes go
along with the wishes of technicians in order to keep everyone happy.

If this is the original owner, I would say that the stopping and starting of the
string breakage is related to the pianist's current repertoire (especially if an
important concert is scheduled), the condition of the hammers, and metal fatigue
in the strings.

Any grooving or flatness on the top of the hammers will greatly increase the
stress on the strings. A piano played this heavily should have the hammer shaped
lightly at almost every service appointment, but once a year should be enough to
lessen the stress on the strings.

Replacing the strings will help, and may get the pianist through 6 months of
playing without breaking too many strings. This will be especially true if the
hammers are also shaped.

I used to tune for an excellent young pianist who would break 2 or 3 treble
strings on his Baldwin SD-10 every month.  The poor piano was never in tune, and
I would sometimes come to tune and find a rat's nest of wire sticking up in the
mid treble.  I finally did a good re-shaping of the hammers (which actually
needed replacing), and the string breakage immediately dropped to 1 string every
3 months or so.  With subsequent string replacement and hammer shape
maintenance, string breakage almost stopped completely.

I have had other examples of this effect as well, on different brands of pianos.
Hopefully others on the list have had similar experiences they can relate.

Good luck, and shape the hammers before you do anything else.

Don_Mannino@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com